


You, Me, and ghostly biology.

by Srjacksin (SRjackson), SRjackson



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: AU where Halfas have Estrus cycles, Accidental Voyeurism, Danny is a Dumbass, Little bit of angst, M/M, Masturbation, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Older! Danny, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pet Death TW for ch. 5, Pseudo-Science, Takes place post season 2 but pre season 3, Trans! Danny, Vlad is also a dumbass, and only sort of regret it, ghost nip, little bit of one-sided pining, season three never happened, surprise redemption, tfw you accidentally dry hump your arch enemy, the works, unintentional sex toy theft, ya know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2020-10-20 22:28:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20682944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SRjackson/pseuds/Srjacksin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SRjackson/pseuds/SRjackson
Summary: "Daniel, just bear with me please, I'm trying- " he pauses, winces, because that came out harsher than he intended, "I just need to explain something to you.""About cores?"Vlad heaves a sigh, "About what happened."Danny blanches at that, vividly recalling the incident Vlad's referring to.Vlad's hands on his hips,Steady friction against the heat pooling underneath him-The way that flesh had yielded against his teeth and the acidic sting of ectoplasm on his tongue-Danny swallows hard, willing the memory away, "And what does that...have to do with Cores?""It's a biological process," Vlad deadpans.Danny's embarrassment shifts to confusion, and it must show on his face because the older Halfa pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation before following up with, "I'm just going to explain this in the most clinical manner possible-"Danny opens his mouth to speak,"Please hold all questions until I've finished."





	1. Impromptu Ghost Sex Ed.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter title courtesy of my beta reader, Steph.  
You're a gem, darling.

Danny feels like shit.

Actually, that's not entirely accurate. He feels like he does during those nights where he wakes up too early, when he sneaks downstairs to get a drink and somehow his body doesn't realize he's gotten up just a little too fast until he's already gotten a bottle of whatever out of the fridge- and then he's flat on his back in a puddle of orange juice, because he'd actually _ blacked out _ from running on fumes. 

And there is always, right between the grabbing the juice bit and waking up on the floor, a very unsettling series sensations. He gets overheated, and dizzy all of a sudden, the kitchen seems to spin around him and there's this distinct weight that settles in his gut right before he hits the ground....

That is exactly what Danny's feeling right now, and unfortunately, it is not because he's about to pass out. 

The Fenton phone buzzes to life in his ear, and Tucker's voice jolts Danny from his stupor "You doin' alright up there man?" 

His vision swims as he forces his head out from between his knees, reaching up to click the button on his earpiece, "Yeah, I'm good. Just...."

_H__e doesn't want to say "tired" because he knows Tuck would call him out on his bullshit, but admitting to not feeling well would have an even worse outcome, and he really doesn't want his friend to go all mother-hen on him right now- _

"I'm just not feeling it tonight?"

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" 

"I mean, we've been staking out Axion for days now, I think if Vlad was gonna pull something he would've done it by now." Danny sighs, "Or I dunno, maybe he already fucking did it somehow." 

Tuckers about to say something, but Sam cuts in over the line, "Discount Dracula at 6' o clock." 

Danny can practically hear Tucker smirking, "You were saying?"

"Screw you, Foley." 

Tucker just laughs as Danny launches himself off the street lamp he'd been perched on. His ghost sense goes off as soon as he's phased through the slate gray brick of the laboratory. 

"Alright, Froot Loop." his palm glows green as he charges up an ecto-blast, "Come on out, we've done this song and dance enough times already, you know exactly how it ends."

_"__Then maybe it's time we changed the tempo." _

Danny looks up just a second too late as Vlad fires from where he's pressed up against the ceiling. The force of the blast throws him across the room, beakers and test tubes go flying as he slams into a table. Vlad's laughing as he kicks off from the ceiling, Danny picks himself up in time to see the tail end of his cape disappear around the corner-

And then the chase is on. 

Danny's not entirely sure what Vlad's even here for, he'd only heard about the other Halfa's interest in Axion after Skulker had let it slip- but right now it feels like Vlad's only goal is losing him in the maze of the laboratory's hallways, flying at breakneck speeds that have Danny grazing the corners whenever he takes a turn, and then Vlad phases through a wall and they're both back outside. Danny clicks the Fenton phone back on, hovering idly over the parking lot as Vlad speeds away, "Still don't know what he came for and I don't know if he got it, gonna try and intercept him in the GZ." 

He doesn't wait for either of his friends to respond, flying as fast as he can towards Fenton Works. 

Danny's home in record time, dropping down through the house and into the lab just as Vlad flies through the portal. Danny goes in after him and then he's stumbling in the air, vision blurring as the weight in the pit of his stomach gets suddenly so much heavier. He shakes his head and tries to steady himself as he races after Vlad, firing off several ecto-blasts that all miss him by a couple yards. 

Vlad yells a taunt over his shoulder, "Losing your edge Little Badger?" 

Danny tries to shoot again, but Vlad beats him to it, blasting him down onto a nearby island. 

The older Halfa touches down in his lab, grinning as goes to shut the blast doors of his portal. There's a mechanical whir as they start to slide shut, and Vlad moves to head upstairs, mission accomplished.

And then he whirls around at the sound of an abrupt, metallic thud. One of the doors creaks and sways and slams down off its track, Danny strides into the lab-

He looks positively _ Feral _. 

His eyes are on fire, lit with something beyond what they should be- this isn't just Daniel's usual attempt at intimidation either, the entirety of his eyes are glowing an acidic green, it's not just the iris. 

Vlad takes a step back and Danny lunges at him. His palms connect with Vlad's chest and he gets a glimpse _ fangs _ as Danny _ snarls _ in his face. Vlad flails on the floor, and Danny lets out a high pitched yelp when he manages to kick him off. He scoots back, fumbling to grab something to defend himself with off of a low shelf. His hand closes around a familiar black cube as Danny picks himself off the floor. 

The spectral energy neutralizer. 

He has no idea if it'll actually contain Daniel, it had worked fine before- but that was years ago, back when the boy had been significantly younger and weaker. He throws it anyway hoping to at least buy some time. The box expands as it sails through the air. Danny raises his arm and Vlad cowers from the shrapnel as he blasts it apart.

_He shouldn't have been able to do that-_

Vlad scrambles to his feet in a panic, grabbing at the edge of the shelving-

_S__omething is very, very wrong with Daniel because he really Should Not have been able to do that- _

And then Dannys across the room and his hands are on Vlad's throat and the older Halfa feels sick because he knows _ exactly _ what's wrong with him the second he touches his skin-

Danny freezes in front of him like a deer caught in headlights, and Vlad grips the shelf a little harder. Danny loosens his hold on his neck, trying to step back but swaying in uncertainty. Vlad just manages to keep him from hitting the floor. 

"...Daniel?" the younger Halfas gone limp in his arms, "Can you hear me?"

Danny makes an attempt at speech, but the words come out slurred and unintelligible. 

_Well, at least he's still conscious..._

Vlad does his best to ease them both down to the floor, Danny slumping against Vlad's chest as he kneels down, his breathing fast and shallow. 

"Daniel," He tries to speak calmly, but his voice wavers anyway, "You need to calm down. Just- breathe deeply, please." 

Danny takes in a stuttering breath, lets out a choked noise as he exhales "H-hurts." 

"I know, I know just-"

Danny bucks his hips against Vlad's lap. 

_Goddammit Daniel _.

Vlad mentally flips through all his options and finds that he really doesn't have a whole lot of them. He could try and knock Danny out, he's certainly disoriented enough at this point, but he's got no idea if he'll actually be able to, and no way of knowing if Danny will just go fudging feral again when he wakes up-

Danny digs his nails into Vlad's shoulders and _ whines _. 

He tries to shift underneath the teen, just to get it so at least he isn't straddling his lap- but Danny mistakes his movement as an invitation and starts grinding against him-

Vlad swears under his breath, puts aside his pride and places a hand on Danny's hip to steady him. Danny lets out a sort of broken noise at the touch, burying his face in Vlad's shoulder with a breathy moan. 

Vlad is _painfully_ aware of the fact that he's going to need an extremely cold shower after this. 

Danny, on the other hand, isn't aware of very much at this point. He knows what he's doing, and he knows that he's doing it to Vlad, but strangely enough he really _ Doesn't Care _. He's shaky and lightheaded and it feels like he's burning. Like someone holding a branding iron flush against his back and the heat from it is just radiating out over the rest of his body in unrelenting waves. 

Moving like this is the only thing that's helping, _ and shit it feels so fucking good- _

Vlad is trying really, really hard to focus on Literally Anything else, like how cold the floor of his lab is, or the shelf currently digging into his back, but Danny's movements are getting even more frantic and erratic and he's just moaning and gasping _ right into his ear- _

It's taking Vlad using all of his willpower _ not _ to scream in frustration, and then he winds up yelping anyway because Danny bites down on his fucking collar bone when he finally comes. He twitches in Vlad's lap for another moment, panting as he pulls away, then those bright white rings run across the length of him and suddenly Danny's on the floor, completely unconscious. 

Vlad just stares at him for a moment as the shock wears off. 

Then, he pulls himself together, picks himself and Daniel up off the floor, and makes his way upstairs. The first thing he does is discard Danny on the living room couch. After that, he makes a beeline for the liquor cabinet because the conversation he needs to have with Daniel after all that isn't one he wants to have while _ sober _.

Danny wakes up on the couch and as he rolls over he's suddenly very aware of the soaking wet mess between his legs. He instantly remembers what happened, and really, really, wishes he didn't. 

"You know, I was rather hoping you wouldn't wake up for a while longer." 

Danny sits up at the sound of Vlad's voice, the older Halfas sprawled out on the recliner across from him, legs slung haphazardly over one arm rest, a bottle in his hand. Vlad stares him down as he takes a swing of his drink, and then sits up with a long suffering sigh, "Alright, so-" 

_"__I gotta pee." _

"I- What?" 

Danny's already stumbled off the couch, and he's halfway down the hall before Vlad yells at him, "Daniel that's- wrong way!" 

He freezes, "What?" 

Vlad gestures towards the hall behind him, exasperated, "The nearest bathroom would be _ that way." _

Danny sprints back past him, and Vlad slumps against the chair as the door slams. He takes another sip of whiskey, attempting to organize his thoughts. He really doesn't know how he's going to explain the situation to Daniel, and honestly, the only reason he hadn't figured out how to already was that he'd thought he'd never have to.

It'd been... what? Three, maybe four years since Daniel had gained his abilities? Vlad had thought that if he was ever going to start Cycling, it would've happened ages ago. Obviously he'd been wrong.

It didn't make sense though, the Fenton's portal alone was releasing more than enough ambient Ectoplasmic energy- but maybe he was expending that faster than he'd been taking it in? Or maybe it was just because he was so much younger? Vlad had been in his 20's when he'd had his accident, Daniel was still a teenager..that shouldn't have meant that he hadn't matured enough, but he was probably still growing, maybe that's what his body had been putting all that energy towards? 

By the time Vlad comes to that conclusion, he also realizes that Danny's been in the bathroom for a concerningly long period of time. He puts the bottle down on the coffee table and goes to look for him. The bathroom door swings open as he knocks on it, and Vlad is not at all surprised to find the room completely empty. 

~

Unfortunately, Danny could only avoid Vlad for so long. 

His parents had recently discovered that Vlad hadn't distanced himself from old hobbies as much as he'd claimed. This was due in part to some rather unfortunate timing, and also the fact that it was better to admit interest in Ecto-weaponry, than to explain that he'd been threatening their son with a piece of said weaponry. 

Jack and Maddie had reacted enthusiastically, of course. The end result being the few hours that occured every other Sunday night, where in the two halfas now had to pretend to tolerate each other when Vlad came over for dinner. 

Danny'd had every intention of hiding out in his room, but his dad had roped him into helping him cook the second he'd gotten home from school. 

As he turns the stove off, Danny contemplates making a break for it before his parents and Vlad came up from the basement- 

"-wouldn't have had to push you out the window if you'd just jumped like everyone else. The dorm was only on the third floor!" 

Maddie's cheerful voice floats upstairs, forcing him to abandon that train of thought. 

"You know Jack didn't so much push me as _ Throw _ me-" 

"What was I supposed to do?" Danny heard his dad cut Vlad off with a boisterous laugh, "The cops were there and you wouldn't move!" 

Vlad lets an exaggerated sigh as the three of them enter the kitchen, "I've honestly no idea how either of you made it through college, your lack of self preservation was terrifying." 

Jack crosses over to the stove, hefting the pot of pasta off to drain it in the sink, "Thanks for finishing up Danno!" 

"Yeah, sure," he gives his dad a weak smile, which quickly turns into a grimace upon seeing Vlad pull a chair out for his mom. 

His dad bounds over with the pasta bowl, oblivious. 

It’s not as bad as it could be honestly, Danny’s pretty sure that Vlads been make an Actual Effort to be_ subtle _, for once. Not to say that he’d suddenly become any less infatuated with Maddie, just that he was definitely trying to be a bit less obvious about it. Which also meant that he couldn't exactly call Vlad out on it- for all intents and purposes it just looked like he was being polite. Danny sighs a little as he sits, silently wishing that Jazz would come home from college already, she’d always had a knack for shutting Vlad’s shit down with nothing more than a glare across the table. 

Danny lets his mind wander off a bit as he fills his plate, letting his parents chattering about whatever it is they're working on fade into the background. It’d honestly never made any sense to Danny that Vlad was more afraid of his sister than him- not that Jazz couldn’t be intimidating, but she wasn't the one with ghost powers. Or maybe_ that _was it? The fact that they had nearly the same abilities, and yet he was so much more inexperienced and clumsy with them. Danny is suddenly viscerally reminded of that one scene from the Lion King where Simba tries to scare Scar’s hyenas in the Elephant Graveyard, feeling his face flush with a mixture of anger and embarrassment at the comparison his brain made, because yeah, that explains how Vlad views him pretty damn well-

Danny flails and drops his fork when something jabs his shoulder. 

“Daniel, I’m not going to stab you with a butter knife.” 

Vlad’s voice drags him back to reality. Danny glares at the other Halfa, wanting nothing more than to slap the smirk off his face. 

He rubs the sore spot on his shoulder instead, “Is there a reason you poked me with it, then?” 

“Well,” Vlad gestures across the table with said butter knife, “Your father was trying to ask you a question?” 

“I just wanted to know how your day went, is all,” Jack looks at his son with mild concern. 

“Are you feeling alright, sweetie? You seem a little out of it." Maddie chimes in, reaching across the table to feel his forehead. 

Danny squirms away, “Mom! It’s fine, I’m fine. I just zoned out for a minute.” his chair scrapes against the floor as he stands, “I think I’m gonna head upstairs for the night.”

Maddie starts to stand too, “Are you sure you’re not getting sick? You hardly ate anything, maybe I should take your temperature.”

Danny’s protests die in this throat as his mom goes to get a thermometer. 

Vlad gets up then, making a quick circuit around the table collecting dishes.

“Oh, hey,” Jack twists around in his seat, “Vladdy you know you don’t have to do that Danny usually takes care of cleaning up.”

Vlad just waves him off, dropping plates and cutlery in the sink with a noisy clatter, “No it’s fine, really, there’s no sense in forcing his chores on him if he’s ill.” he turned the tap on, “It’s the least I can do.”

Maddie comes back into the kitchen, “Jack, did you move the thermometer? I could’ve sworn it was in the bathroom.”

“Huh,” Jack’s brow creases, and he gets up to help her look, “No? Maybe? I don’t know where else it would be though-”

Danny seizes the opening, voice pitching and cracking far more than he'd like, “Guys it’s fine! We don’t need a thermometer, I swear I’m not sick!” 

Maddie looks uncertain, and then Vlad turns around, “Well, that’s a relief, you can help me with the dishes, then.” He tosses a dish towel in Danny’s general direction, “I’ll wash, you dry, and,” he beams at Danny’s parents, “I’ll meet you both in the basement when we’re done.”

It only takes another few moments for Danny’s parents to relent, and then he’s gripping at the dish towel because _ he’s alone with Vlad _, “.....You did that on purpose.”

Vlad just shrugs, “Perhaps.” 

He doesn’t say anything else, he simply pulls a dripping plate out of the sink, looking expectantly at Danny. Danny gives in with an agitated huff. 

They work in relative silence, the only noise is that of the running water, and Danny’s almost unnerved by how quiet Vlad is. 

The silence doesn't last long, of course.

“How much do you know about Ghost Cores?” 

Danny fumbles a bit with a serving spoon, “Huh?”

"It's a fairly simple question, Daniel." 

It really isn't a simple question at all, Cores are responsible for so many different things, Danny's not even entirely sure how a normal ghost's core functions, much less his own- but he's not gonna let Vlad know that, "I know enough." he rolls his eyes and tosses the spoon onto the drying rack.

Vlad turns the tap off, and leans back against the sink, "Care to elaborate?"

The sudden absence of the backdrop of running water, combined with the shift in his tone is enough to put Danny on edge. He toys with his damp towel for a moment, choosing his next words carefully, "It's like...a heart..and a soul and a hard drive?"

Vlad cocks an eyebrow, and Danny's face flushes a bit because that had sounded significantly more profound in his head, "I mean it stores everything about a ghost, so..." he trails off. 

"Well, I suppose it's not an entirety inaccurate comparison." Vlad glances away for a moment, "Although, I should have worded that better, I wanted to know if you were aware of how a core _ functions _."

"It sort of….. regulates shit? Ectoplasm and energy, I mean."

Vlad nods, "...And do you have any idea _ why _ that is?" 

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't." Danny crosses his arms defensively, "_ Why _ are you asking me all these questions?" He squints up at him suspiciously. 

"Daniel, just bear with me please, I'm _ trying- _" he pauses, winces, because that came out harsher than he intended, "I just need to explain something to you." 

"About cores?" 

Vlad heaves a sigh, _ "About what happened." _

Danny blanches at that, vividly recalling the incident Vlad's referring to. 

_ Vlad's hands on his hips, _

_ Steady friction against the heat pooling underneath him- _

_ The way that flesh had yielded against his teeth and the acidic sting of ectoplasm on his tongue- _

Danny swallows hard, willing the memory away, "And what does that...have to do with Cores?" 

"It's a biological process," Vlad deadpans.

Danny's embarrassment shifts to confusion, and it must show on his face because the older Halfa pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation before following up with, "I'm just going to explain this in the most clinical manner possible-" 

Danny opens his mouth to speak,

"_Please hold all questions until I've finished." _

"Uh...okay?" 

"Okay, so-," Vlad stops before he's really started, struggling to figure out how to word things. He starts toying awkwardly with the end of his ponytail, and then stops once he realizes what he's doing. He inhales sharply, and very pointedly avoids looking directly at Danny as he finally launches into his explanation.

"_A major function of a ghost's Core is to regulate the intake and expulsion of ectoplasmic energy. Replenishing what's lost from use of the specter's abilities, and expelling enough to keep their form in a stable state, too much energy can cause destabilization in the same way that too little could-" _

Vlad pauses for a breath, and Danny takes a moment to think about how much this sounds like its coming straight from a textbook-

"_There is, however, instances where excess energy is necessary. Small portions of energy that is taken in is often set aside within another area of the core and reserved for those occasions- usually instances of severe injury or overexertion, but-" _

Vlad takes another deep breath here, a bit winded, and the last bit comes out in a rush, 

_"MostOfThatStoredEnergyIsR__eservedForReproduction."_

Vlad finally looks at Danny, visibly red in the face, he tries to clear his throat but his voice cracks slightly anyway, "Any questions?"

Obviously the first thing out of Danny's mouth is, 

"Vlad,_ What the actual fuck?" _

"It's not really an issue for most ghosts but our Cores have adapted to account for still having actual reproductive organs-" 

Danny grips at his hair, _ "Vlad What The F u ck!?" _

"I really don't-" 

"_Please just shut up and let me process this ohmygod-"_

Danny puts his head in his hands as he slumps back against the sink, mumbling, "_God....Why is this shit only just happening_ _Now!?" _

"You do have a severe energy deficiency." 

Danny pulls himself up, glancing upwards at Vlad, "huh?" 

He shrugs, "I doubt that's the case anymore, but if I had to hazard a guess- your Core was simply reserving energy for more vital functions." 

Danny steadies himself against the counter, slowly coming to terms with the situation, "okay, _ okay _ . So- how often does this- I mean is it a _ Regular Thing-" _

"Cycles vary but these instances generally occur a few times a year, and no, I've already said that our experiences aren't normal compared to most ghosts," Vlad's speech is less awkward now, tone far more conversational now that Danny's started to calm himself. 

"And how many times a year does it….?" 

Vlad lets out a puff of air, thinking for a moment "I suppose…......roughly every other month?" 

"And you have to deal with-" 

Vlad cuts him off with a curt nod.

Danny winces, "Is it always that bad?" 

"No, no, nowhere near that level," Vlad quickly reassures him, "not usually, but I'd suggest monitoring your energy levels to avoid another... incident." 

"Right yeah, uh," Danny looks down the floor, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Sorry about that?" 

Vlad surprises him with a rather nonchalant shrug, a far cry from his previous demeanor, "Honestly Daniel, you weren't completely in control of yourself. You genuinely had no idea what was happening and I can't blame you for that." 

"Oh." 

Vlad opens his mouth as if to say something else but an explosion from the basement rattles the whole house before he can. 

Danny seizes the opening, "You should probably go deal with that." 

Vlad makes a break for the basement door.

~

Danny's not entirely sure what to do with himself after that conversation, but he settles on booting up his computer to distract himself with a few rounds of DOOM. 

Neither Sam or Tucker are online- he's not sure if he should be disappointed or relieved by that. As much as he enjoys teaming up with his friends there's a fair chance he'd wind up trying to explain everything over that chat and this entire situation is really something he should tell them in person- if he really needs to tell them at all. 

He winds up joining a public server and starting a randomized match. 

Danny lets himself get so immersed in the game that he doesn't notice how late it's gotten until his mom startles him with a light tap on the shoulder. He looks up from the monitor, slipping off his headphones and blinking owlishly as he tries to adjust to how dark the living rooms gotten without the afternoon sunlight streaming through the window. 

Maddie can't help but laugh a bit at the surprised look on her son's face, "I'm heading up to bed, don't stay up too late, okay?" 

"Oh, yeah, of course, sure." Danny's already clicking out of the game, "What time is it now anyway?" 

Maddie yawns, scratching at the side of her face, Danny notices a bit of soot clinging to her cheek, "Around ten."

"Guess I should head up too, then." 

Maddie nods tiredly, then bends to press a light kiss to Danny's forehead before he can move to get up, "Night, Sweetie." 

Danny pulls away, with an exaggerated eye roll, feigning embarrassment, "Goodnight, mom." 

Maddie just grins and ruffles his hair playfully before turning to go to bed.

He takes another minute to stand and stretch as he shuts down the computer before heading upstairs as well. Danny doesn't bother to turn on the light in his room, exhaustion settling in as he reached the top of the stairs. He fumbles around in the dark for a moment, before managing to pull an oversized sleep shirt from his dresser. He strips down quickly,

Or tries to, anyway. His binder gets stuck halfway off his chest and over his head, the fabric tented taunt around his arms and shoulders. He quickly gives up on trying to wiggle out of it and just phases it off. A slight ache settles around his ribs, and he makes a mental note not to wear the damn thing for so long tomorrow.

He dresses in his pajamas and flops down in bed with every intention of passing right the hell out, but something crinkles loudly under his back and he shifts curiously to find a stack of papers beneath him. Danny furrows his brow in confusion as he clicks on the bedside lamp, he'd been pretty sure he'd already put away his homework- 

But no, this is something else entirely.

The papers are stapled and clipped together haphazardly, and there's a lot of them too. Some are lined, pulled raggedly out of notebooks, the majority of it is crisp printer paper, but there's a few thicker pieces, construction paper or cardstock, maybe. Flipping over the first page causes a bright yellow sticky note to flutter down into his lap. Danny holds it up to the light and finds that it's a note, written in a neat cursive scrawl, 

_ "Daniel, _

_ I've no doubt that my attempt to explain current circumstances has gone poorly. However, I thought it best to leave you with something, the following articles are of my own observations, research and notes from various tests and experiments. Hopefully, you'll find at least some of it useful in dealing with things. _

_ In the unlikely event that a medical emergency not discussed in said notes should arise- please refer to the GZ'S Directory of professionals _

_ (included in here; somewhere) rather than myself, and save us both the embarrassment. _

_ Good luck. _

_ -Vlad. _


	2. Red Tide Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Danny has a has a rough Monday. 
> 
> Or just a very rough time, in general.

* * *

Danny stays up way later than he should've flipping through Vlad's notes. The pages aren't organized in any way that makes sense, and it quickly becomes clear that this was something he'd slapped together in a hurry. If Danny hadn't spent the better part of the night trying to sort through the mess, he might have actually been amused by how easily the situation has destroyed Vlad's typically meticulous filing skills. 

Instead, Having had his alarm go of less than an hour after getting the mess turned into several similar looking piles, Danny was just thoroughly exhausted, and more than a little annoyed. He makes a mental note to sit down and _ really _ read through everything later, (after a nap, of course,) and then forces himself to get ready for school.

His first class of the day is English, and of course they're still reading _ "As You Like it." _

Danny silently thanks his past self for Actually Taking Sam's advice and reading ahead on SparkNotes (and christ, whoever made that site is fucking godsend- he can't understand Shakespeare's writing on a good day, much less one where he's cranky and sleep deprived.) 

Said sleep deprivation must be showing quite clearly on his face, because Lancer addresses his next question to Danny specifically, "-And what I want to know, in regards to this scene, is if this particular play would fall under the category of a comedy or a tragedy? Mr. Fenton?" 

Danny forces himself to look like he wasn't just falling asleep at his desk and deadpans "I mean, the main plot is literally just a bunch of crossdressers running around in the forest." 

This earns a bout of surprised laughter from the rest of the class, because _ shit _ for once he isn't even _ wrong. _

Danny continues as Lancer tries to hush his classmates "And yeah, I know Rosalind is the only one who's _ actually _ dressed in drag, but Shakespeare consistently uses the appearance of Ganymede for comedic effect- I mean the name itself is a reference to Jupiter's _ boy-toy _ for Christ's sake. Seriously, he was the _ cupbearer _ of the Gods-" 

Danny pauses for a moment, finally noticing how taken aback the English teacher looks by his uncharacteristic tangent, he clears his throat awkwardly, "Also, no one's died yet, and if this was a tragedy there definitely would've been like, three murders already." 

~

Sam's_ Still _amused by it when the trio makes their way to lunch later in the day, recounting the incident to Tucker as soon as she meets him and Danny in front of their math class. 

Danny just shrugs modestly, "Honestly, I wouldn't have been able to do that if you hadn't sent me that SparkNotes link so, thanks." 

Sam beams, "Told you that site was good."

The lunch period starts out fairly uneventful, with Tucker excitedly explaining a concept he'd come up with for a video game, (he'd recently taken an interest in coding.)

He'd already explained the main points of it to Danny during math, so the Halfa let's himself zone out a bit as Tucker fills Sam in on the details, resting his head against the table in the crook of his elbow. As he shifts on the bench in an attempt to get more comfortable, there's a sudden shooting pain in his abdomen that makes him hiss through his teeth. 

Tucker stops rambling almost immediately, "Dude you okay?" 

Danny shifts out of his hunched over position to respond, but the only thing he can manage is a pained gasp as the sensation worsens. 

Sam starts to get up from the other side of the table, "Danny-" 

He stumbles out of his seat in a horrified panic, realizing what's happened and desperately hoping he's wrong, _ "Gotta go to the bathroom." _

Sam looks horrified as she watches him flee from the cafeteria. She starts after him and Tucker pulls her back, "Chill out, he's probably just constipated. Or something." 

"Tucker, _ somethings wrong,_ Danny would rather piss behind the bleachers than use the girl's bathroom!" 

_ "Oh." _ Tucker's eyes widen as he remembers Casper High's bullshit bathroom policy. _ "Shit."_

The bathroom is blessedly empty as Sam runs in after her friend, "Danny?" 

"I'm back here," His response is strained, muffled from behind the door of the rightmost stall. Sam can see that he's sitting on the floor of it as she approaches.

"What's going on? Are you okay?" 

"I don't-" he takes a shuddering, panicky breath, "I don't know. I- I think I'm _ bleeding _?" 

"What!? From where-" 

_ "Sam, where do you think!?" _

She crouches down to hear him better, "I thought you stopped getting periods though?" 

"I did!" Danny's voice pitches and cracks in pain.

"And what do you mean you _ think _you're bleeding? You either are or you're not-" 

_ "Beacuse there's fucking ectoplasm!" _

~

Sam calms him down as best she can before leaving to grab supplies from her locker, (and update Tucker on the situation, he'd been waiting outside the entire time, much to the ire of a hall monitor.) 

He's only slightly less panicked when she returns, handing a maxi pad and a wad of damp paper towels to him under the door. 

Danny had stopped getting periods back in their Freshman year, almost right after the Accident, something he'd confided in her and Tucker few months after out of mounting anxiety. He hadn't been horribly bothered by the lack of it, and since she'd reassured him that it wasn't a big deal if it wasn't causing any real health issues, they'd all chalked it up to one last side effects of ecto-radiation exposure and forgot about it. 

Now, Sam was starting to regret not asking him to go see a doctor. 

Danny swears suddenly and violently from behind the door, yanking her from her personal musings.

"What's wrong?" 

_ "My fucking ghost sense just went off." _

She can hear him shuffling around in the stall, and the tell-tale white rings momentarily brighten up the windowless bathroom as he transforms, "Danny, _ no _. You can't go fight someone like this! We don't know what's going on-" 

"I can't just _ not _do anything!" He phases through the door, "Its- it's probably just the Box ghost again l- I can just tell him to fuck off and then we'll deal with this, okay?" 

He flies through the ceiling before she can protest any further. 

~

Danny spots the culprits moments later. Ember and Kitty are crouched on the edge of the building like a pair of gargoyles. Embers tuning her guitar as kitty touches up her makeup and Danny can tell by the way they're chattering and laughing that they aren't planning anything good. 

He tries to sneak up behind them but a fresh jolt of pain sends him stumbling down onto the rooftop. Both ghosts turn around at the disturbance, and Ember grins maniacally, slinging her guitar strap over her shoulder, "Hah! I was wondering when you'd show up! Now we can _ really _ get this show on the road!" 

Kitty starts to advance on Danny as Ember makes a few last minute adjustments. He tries to scramble back, wincing as he topples over himself in his haste. 

Kitty Actually _ pauses _ in her advance, "Uh...You okay over there?" 

Danny curls in on himself, hugging his knees to his chest, 

_ And oh, god this is so embarassing because now he's fucking crying and he can't stop- _

"No. _ No_, _ I'm not _." 

Kitty takes one more look at his tear stained face, then turns to Ember and makes a sort of "stand down" signal with her hand. Ember looks disappointed and confused, at least until she strides across the roof top to see what the hell is going on. 

Her eyes widen at the sight of him and she adjusts her guitar strap so that the instrument is resting across her back. It's like her equivalent of holstering a gun and the gesture isn't lost on Danny. 

She kneels down slowly, as through approaching a wounded animal, "What's going on, Babypop?" 

The question feels like the verbal equivalent of putting a wrecking ball to the wall of a dam and Danny can't stop the flood from spilling forth, can't even _ try. _

He's rambling and ranting and stumbling over his words, God only knows how much of what he's saying is even coherent- but he doesn't let it keep him from telling them fucking _ everything _. 

_ The fucking incident with Vlad and the fucking cycle bullshit and how he's bleeding and being Way Too Fucking Emotional and he's so sorry this is so stupid everything just fucking HURTS and he doesn't know what to do- _

Ember cuts him off with a crushing hug and his already mangled speech tapers off into muffled sobs. 

~

It takes Danny far longer than he'd like to stop crying, and even longer until he stops hiccuping and starts breathing properly again. 

Kitty sits down next to him and Ember, crossing her legs and leaning her elbows against her knees, "Sooooo...I'm gonna be honest here kid, we really don't know how to help you with this sort of thing." 

"No, it's fine- I really wasn't expecting you to-"

"No, Dipstick," Ember cuts in, laughing "She means that as in how neither of us have a fucking Uterus anymore." 

Danny falters, "oh." 

Kitty shakes her head with a grimace, "Yeah, definitely don't miss dealing with_ that _ shit." She clears her throat, "No, but uh, in all seriousness- your biology is just _ fucked, _ man. Like. You're a goddamn freak of nature, you _ and _Plasmius."

"We wouldn't even know where to start with that crap," Ember agrees. 

"If you guys are trying to make me feel better, you're not doing a very good job." 

The dead starlet shrugs sheepishly, "Sorry?" She gets up, tightening her shoulder strap, "Look, how about we just...take a rain check for this? I'd rather kick your ass when you're feeling up to it. It's more fun when you can actually put up a fight." 

Danny actually manages a weak smile at that, "Yeah, alright. 'Rain-check', than." 

"Cool." Ember grins and shoots him a thumbs up before flying off. 

Kitty gives his hair a quick tousle and follows after her, but not before throwing a surprisingly sincere, "Feel better, kid!" Over her shoulder.

~

Danny phases back onto the bathroom and transforms, feeling slightly better than he had when he'd left it. 

Having an emotional breakdown is just kind of cathartic like that. 

Sam jumps up from where she's sitting against the wall the second she sees him, "Who was it? What happened?!"

Danny raises his hand in a placating gesture, "Woah, Sam, it's okay, I'm okay! it was Ember and kitty- and we didn't even fight." 

"Really?" She arches an eyebrow in disbelief, "You were gone for a while."

"Yeah, I know. But we just talked. They were actually.....surprisingly understanding? It was kinda surreal." 

Sam snorts, "Maybe, but if any of the ghosts were gonna be sympathetic about _ this _ it'd definitely be them." 

Both of them glance up as the bell rings, signaling the end of a class period. 

Danny winces "Uh ... Exactly...how long was I gone for?" 

Sam glances at her phone, "Well, It's 2:12 now, so…." She grins wryly, "Congrats on cutting your last three classes with me, I guess." 

"_ You were waiting in here the whole time!?" _

Sam shrugs remorselessly, "What's a few more demerits anyway, right?" 

** _"Sam."_ **

She rolls her eyes, completely unphased by the ghostly echo he'd let slip into his voice, just grasping at his sleeve and starting to guide him out of the bathroom, "Oh shut up, let's just go grab your crap outta your locker and get you _ home." _

~

Danny hadn't planned on telling his parents what was going on, but it was kind of hard not to after the cramps got so bad that he wound up bolting from the dinner table to vomit in the kitchen sink. 

Although, that hadn't necessarily been a _ bad _ thing. 

Yeah, he felt like hell- but it was kind of nice to have them doting on him, he couldn't even remember the last time they'd all actually spent time together. 

Maddie had started fussing over him immediately, digging out painkillers and her heating pad because he'd _ never _ had this sort of issue.

Jack had tried to make him feel better too, an effort that had taken the shape of fudge and cheesy "horror" movies. 

(Should Danny have made his parents watch _ "What we do in the shadows," _ with him? 

Probably Not.

Did he regret if? _ Abso-fucking-lutley Not.)_

So when Danny wakes at some god awful hour of the morning- (as per usual) he's still on the couch in a nest of pillows and blankets and feeling pretty damn content with himself. 

The house is mostly dark, the only light is provided by the streetlamp outside, streaming in through the blinds of the living room window. 

Danny just takes a moment to bask in the peace and quiet. 

He'd like to stay like that forever- in this weird little liminal space between night and day, where he may very well be the only conscious thing for a few miles, but he's never been great at sitting still for very long.

He navigates his way upstairs in the near pitch black, the blankets draped around his shoulders trailing behind him. The digital clock on his nightstand reads 4:58, so he decides there's not point going back to sleep if he's gotta be up at 6 anyway- besides, he's not even tired anymore. 

He clicks on his lamp, and sits down on the edge of the bed, letting his eyes roam around the room aimlessly- from the glow in the dark stars plastered across the ceiling to the NASA posters on the wall and then finally, landing on Vlad's notes organized across his desk. 

He'd almost forgotten about those with everything that's happened today. 

Then thought suddenly occurs to him that maybe all the _ "Core shit" _ might have something to do with his current predicament. 

The bed creaks lightly as he gets up and settles into his desk chair. 

~

Vlad's notes are somehow even more extensive than he'd thought. 

There's all kinds of diagrams and charts and bullet pointed lists, and he has to sort through it a bit more because last night he'd really only been sticking papers that _ looked _ that same together- 

Danny decides to start with the diagrams first, because there's less of them and he's always had an easier time understanding visuals. 

He unfolds a large piece of poster paper, revealing a detailed rendering of a ghost core, marked up with pen and sharpie and highlighter.

"**O****_uter Wall:_ ** _ Thick many layered endoskeleton surrounding the core, composed of hardened Ectoplasm. M__icroscopic pores allow for the steady intake and expulsion of energy. _

** _Membrane:_** _ A thin__ porous sheet beneath the outer wall, keeps Plasma and organelles contained. _

_ Edit; EXTREMELY SENSITIVE. _

** _Plasma: _** _A soup-like substance composed_ _ primarily of super charged Ectoplasm. _

** _Vacuoles_:** _ Organelles responsible for containing energy reserves, becomes active during cycles and severe injury. The sudden release of energy acts as a catalyst to recovery and a form of adrenaline. _

** _Scire_:** _ Latin word for "to know", organelle responsible for storing information/memories._

** _Vibrato: _ ** _ Responsible for speech, and more animalistic vocal responses; growling, purring, rattling, hissing, ungodly shrieking and unnatural echoing. Greatly influenced by Emotions._

** _Mitochondria: _** _Energy Vacuum_ _. Organelle responsible for drawing energy in through outer wall and membrane, filtering out harmful components, transferring excess to Vacuoles and releasing resulting waste products. _

(Danny has to take a moment to laugh at that bit because _ "The Mitochondria is the Power-House of the Core." _ And honestly _ fuck _Tucker for referenceing outdated memes in the group chat, he's actually trying to take this shit seriously.) 

** _Nucleus: _** _Synonymous_ _ with the Soul." _

Really though, The whole thing is very similar to a cell, and not nearly as complicated as he'd thought. He starts flipping through the handwritten notes with a bit more confidence. 

"**_Spectral Behavior Analysis / _ **

** _(Examining Ghostly Relations)_**

  * __Signs of aggression or agitation are not limited to vocalizations. Specter will often bare fangs and claws, and "flash" eyes, these are often accompanied by an involuntary lapse of the form into a ghostly tail. __
  * _Social hierarchy in the Ghost Zone Is often built on a foundation of intimidation- although few areas have settled into a semblance of civilized society. (Hades, Aragon's Keep, The Far Frozen, and The Field of Reed's.)_
  * _Ghosts are solitary creatures. They are prone to forming temporary alliances, but very rarely interact with one another without any incentive._
  * _Despite the rarity of strong Platonic relationships, ghosts occasionally forge strong, occasionally romantic bonds with one another for the purpose of reproduction. _
  * _Polyamory isn't uncommon, and statistically more likely than a strictly monogamous bond. _
  * _The actual formation of a "Core-Bond" between individuals can vary wildly, although it seems necessary to involve a state of high energy and Emotion-_
  * _The bond is an actual physical connection between Cores. _**_(???_****)_"_**

Danny flips to the next page, 

  1. _ " _ ** _In Regards To Reproductive Cycles._**<strike>__Don't bother the fudging Ectopi unless you're desperate- it's not worth it__</strike>
  2. **_Note for future me:_****_ NEVERMIND. Disregard previous statement._**
  3. _Energy levels often correspond with temperature, locate thermal thermometer._
  4. _Also__ Calendars. Get A Calendar._
  5. _Energy reserves can be drained before Estrus sets in if caught early enough! _
  6. _Nevermind. Disregard previous statement for sanity's sake, works far better in theory than in practice._
  7. _Estrus spans 5-7 days after the initial release of energy reserves- something to keep in mind!!_
  8. _Core stimulation is a thing, apparently. (Remember to make edits to diagrams.)"_

It's getting pretty close to six now and Danny's about to pack everything up when one more page in particular catches his eye;

_ "Date: Sept. 31st, 1983 _

_ Time: Aprox. 3pm - ??? _

_ Location: G.Z, -66°33′47.8″ N _

_ "Far Frozen" _

_ Hypothesis: Acting as the "Base" Subject A/ "Flurry" should be able to safely form new Spector with Subject B/ "Sleet" with slight "filtrative" assistance from a third party._

_ Supportive information: _

  * __While prior injury to Sub. A's Core resulted in permanent disruption of reproductive functions, (I.e; poor energy regulation) 'Flurry' is still capable of acting as a Tether for Sub. C. __
  * __Sub. B's heightened energy levels and irregular cycles have made previous attempts near impossible, having a third party regulate energy output towards Sub. B should keep Sub. C stable. __

_ \- Core compatibility is increased due to the nature of both subjects, (see "Frost Giant")_

_ \- The fact that both Subjects are female has absolutely no effect on Core compatibility._

_ Conclusion: _

** _Overwhelming FAILURE._**

_ -Overexertion Fail-safe rendered abilities of 3rd party _ ** _useless. _**

-Sub. B suffered near immediate loss of control after abrupt disconnection from 3rd party. 

-Sub. A sustained further core injury while detaching from Sub. C.

-_ Sub. C Ultimately Destabilized despite the efforts of other members of the community. _

_ Final thoughts: _

_ There were far too many variables left unaccounted for-_

_ (Namely, plausible incompatibility of Halfas to the standard spector)_

_ I've no intention of repeating this procedure, (Nor returning to the Far Frozen.) _

<strike> _ The entire Instance was horribly distressing and I need_ _ a goddamn drink." _</strike>

Danny has to force himself not to linger on the implications as his alarm clock goes off behind him.

~

Danny had made a mental note to start keeping track of his cycles- he'd even dug out a spare notebook and snatched a thermometer from the basement, but the rest of the month had been so uneventful, (partially because he'd also somehow managed to completely avoid Vlad) that he'd quickly fallen back into his normal routine. 

Suffice to say, it'd somehow slipped his mind. Right up until the first Thursday of November. 

Vlad had been right about his next instance of "Estrus" not being so severe. It'd started out as nothing more than a slightly feverish sensation, and Danny had gone to school figuring he might be coming down with something. 

(He would've stayed home if he hadn't had so many lates and cut classes already, and later he regrets not doing so anyway.)

The sensation worsens gradually throughout the day- and by 7th period there's no denying what's going on. Chemistry is usually his favorite subject but he can't focus on anything, flushed and sweating, perched on the edge of his seat and bouncing his leg in a desperate bid for some sort of _ friction._

"Hey, did you get the answer for number 7?" 

Danny nearly jumps out of his skin in surprise, "I, um- sorry, what?" 

Star eyes him warily from across the lab table, "Number 7, Fenton. Did you do it or not?" 

"Oh, uh, yeahhh, one sec," Danny fumbles with the packet, "It's "Sodium-hydroxide." 

Star scribbles the answer down without another word. Danny runs a hand through his sweat soaked hair and glances desperately at the clock. A minute til' the bell. 

He's only got one class period left. 45 minutes. _ Less than an hour. _He can do this. 

The bell rings and Danny's the first one out of class. 

His last class is gym. They've been doing nothing but laps around the track lately and Danny's never been more thankful for a cool autumn breeze. 

Sam's quickly leading the class, no surprise there. Danny's gotten better about keeping up with her, but he doesn't even try to today. He doesn't want her asking questions. (Tucker, on the other hand, isn't even a concern, always lagging behind everyone else.) 

Danny tries to focus on running, and the wind and Mrs. Tetzlaff's ear piercing whistle and not the ache settling between his legs. 

Then his ghost sense goes off and he's got something entirely new to worry about. 

Danny veers over to the left side of the track, hoping off the edge and ducking behind the bleachers. He almost drops to his knees as he transforms because it feels _ so much worse _ as Phantom. He steadies himself as he hears the first chords of a pop song echo across the field and almost growls aloud because Ember _ really couldn't have picked a worse day to cash in that rain check. _

Danny peers out from between the slats of the seats. The rest of the class has stopped running, taking notice of the ghostly singer as she settles on the bleachers opposite of Danny, "hEELLOOO CAAAAASPER HIGH! ARE YOU READY TO RO-"

Danny doesn't let her introduction get any farther than that. He bursts out from his hiding spot like a shot from a gun and if the sound of rending metal is any indication, he's destroyed a good portion of the seating in the process. Ember has just enough time and sense to shield her face with her guitar as he slams into her. They both tumble off the bleachers, skidding several yards across the turf. Ember kicks him off and gets to her feet with an ecstatic laugh, "Glad to see you back on your A game, Dipstick!" 

Danny responds with an ectoblast that severs the body of her guitar from the neck, strings pulling taunt and then snapping with a painful "_ twang _!"

Ember stares down at her broken instrument in shock, and as well as Danny knows it's gonna take a lot out of her to fix it- he can't bring himself to care. That's for future Danny to feel bad about. Ember's eyes go wide as she meets his wild, fiery green ones, "I uh- caught you at a bad time, didn't I?" 

Danny bares his teeth at her, "_ Of course you did." _

He lunges. 

Ember hits the ground _ hard, _ letting out a pained yelp as his _ claws _ hook into her sides. He's straddling her hips, pinning her in place with his body weight as he bites down on her shoulder. Ember shrieks and grabs a fistful of his hair, wrenching him off, 

"_Dude, What The Fuck!?" _

Danny blinks hard, coming back to his senses in a blind panic and scrambling off of her, "_ ohmygodI'msorryIdidn'tmeanto- _" 

Ember scoots back away from him, clutching her shoulder. Ectoplasm oozes from between her fingers and she winces, "_Jesus_ _Christ, Babypop_. God, I know you're _really_ horny right now and like, _really rightfully_ angry, but _Jesus-Fucking-Christ_, _man!" _

Danny looks back and forth between Ember and his confused classmates, the unmasked horror on his friends faces'. He looks back down at her, and swallows hard "Uh...Can I get another raincheck?" 

Ember scoffs, scoops up her shattered guitar, and flees the scene. 

Danny follows her example moments later. 

~

Danny phases in through the window of his room and stumbles as he transforms. He catches himself on the edge of his dresser and gasps involuntarily as he sees himself in the mirror. His eyes are entirely green, Scalera, Iris and Pupils all glowing as bright as a traffic light. He's also_ covered _In Ember's Ectoplasm. It's splattered across his chest and checks and dripping down his chin, and as he tries to wipe his mouth he makes yet another startling discovery: Fangs. 

He has_ Fucking Fangs. _

Danny feels like his entire being has collessed into an entity of pure panic, and yet, somehow he manages one clear, coherent thought: He needs to get clean. And he needs to do it _ right the fuck now._

He turns on his heel and heads for the bathroom across the hall. His bedroom door slams against the wall, the bathroom door slams shut behind him. He clicks the lock into place and starts stripping down, focused only on scrubbing off all of _ Ember's fucking Ectoplasm- _

At least until he gets down to his underwear, because they're just absolutely _ soaked. _

His breath catches in his throat and he has to remind himself to breathe as he peels his boxers off, smearing the damp mess even further across his inner thighs. 

He braces himself against the counter, mumbling, "Okay, Fenton, here's an idea: kill two birds with one stone and _ just get in the fucking shower already." _

_~_

Danny sits on the floor of the shower for a just a moment, letting the warm water rinse away the Ectoplasm and just a little bit of the tension. Then he leans back against the wall and almost sobs in relief as he finally gets a hand between his legs. He doesn't even try to be quiet, gasping and whining as he rubs at his clit. His whole body tenses at the quickly building pleasure, his heels pressed against the sides of the tub. He's getting so, _ so close _ but somehow it's not _ enough. _Danny pauses, panting as he scoots further back in the tub, back pressing flush against the cool tile as he cants his hips upwards. He bites back a gasp as he eases a finger inside himself. 

It's not that he's never _ done that _ before but he definitely doesn't do it _ often. _He very rarely has the patience to really work himself open when it's just so much easier to rub one one out.

The first digit slides in easily, his back arches as he presses against that one extra sensitive spot. He leans forward, and the water runs down his back. He's bent double with one hand braced against the floor and the other working at himself, fingering and angled so he can grind his clit right against the heel of his hand. It's still not enough. Danny slows slightly to add another finger, winces at the slight sting- but he manages. It's a bit of a stretch, making pleasure border on pain, and he has to force himself to slow his pace. 

He bites his lip and forces himself to try and relax, letting his mind wander as he closes his eyes and leans back again,

_ A warm body underneath him, a firm, solid, muscular build. _

_ Rough calloused hands cupping his face, thumbing over his lips, pulling him closer as if for a kiss, grazing fangs against his collarbone instead, like a wolf toying with a rabbit. _

_ He can feel that smug grin pressed against his skin as he nips at his neck. The slight tickle of facial hair. He smells smoky and floral- like perfumed cigarettes. _

_ He pulls away and pins him with such an intense gaze- adoring and critical and blood red, making Danny feel like he's losing a game he didn't know he was playing- _

_ Danny wants to reach up and rip out his hair tie, that stupid red silk ribbon is already hanging halfway out of silver tresses. _

_ He catches his hand as he tries, claws digging into his wrist, his voice is smooth, deep, commanding, "Patience is a virtue, Daniel." _

Danny cries out as he comes, tensing and twitching, fingers crooking hard against his inner walls. 

And then, as he comes down from that high, it dawns on him that he just _ got off thinking about Vlad- _

Danny turns the water on as cold as it can go. 


	3. Eye for an Eye (sort of)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Danny is rather ashamed of his preferences.  
(And Vlad certainly isn't)

"Jack...I could give you...so many reasons why that's not going to work."

"Okay but what if-"

"I'm sorry, which one of us here is currently responsible for managing a multi-million dollar mega-corporation?"

Jack's silence is enough of a response. Vlad clicks his pen a few times in an attempt to quell his rising annoyance, "Right, so it may be wise to let me handle the finances here?"

Jack looks a bit sheepish, "Sorry, I just want to help out-"

Maddie puts a hand on his shoulder as she finishes skimming through the documents, "I think Vlad knows what he's doing, dear," she drops her voice down to a whisper and hands the papers back to him, "You do know what you're doing, right?"

_Oh, for Christs sake Madaline, yes!_

Vlad doesn't say this aloud, simply letting out an agitated huff instead as he shoves everything back into the folder.

Honestly, he's trying to do something nice, they really ought to have a little more faith in him by now-

Documents stowed away, he pinches the bridge of his nose, taking a moment to calm himself, "Axion labs is being purchased by a subsection of DALV- yes, but it's being done under your name. It's legally a part of Fenton Works once everything gets settled."

This is more or less the exchange Danny witnesses on the second Sunday of December.

He'd been hanging back in the doorway, eavesdropping, but as the timer dings on the oven he feigns concern for his dad's freaky-experimental-enchilada-casserole-thing and goes to check on it. As he places the concoction on the counter he can't help but realize the fact that Vlad had been casing Axion that night for his parents rather than any personal gain-  
...it was definitely a drastic change in M.O.

Vlad then excuses himself to the restroom.

Which gives Danny a perfect opportunity to plant the Whoopie cushion he'd had in his back pocket on the other Halfa's seat.

He has to make a sort of frantic "shut up" motion at his parents as Vlad comes back. Both of them immediately burst out laughing as he sits down.

The tension that had been building in the room just about shatters.

Vlad chucks the cushion across the table where Maddie narrowly dodges it, "Really guys? Very mature," but there's no real bite to his tone, and he's grinning despite his slight exasperation.

Jack shakes his head, trying to rein himself in, "Sorry, but we can't take credit for that one!"

"Oh? Really? well, then," he turns to address his younger counterpart, "I hope you know that this means war, Daniel."

~

If Danny had had any idea as to the extent of Vlad's retaliation, he may have thought twice about starting a prank war.

It's starts out somewhat small, sure.  
Vlad's response to the Whoopie cushion had been to set up a maze of ghost shields in his room, the Halfa equivalent of plastic wrap and clear Scotch tape.

Danny returns the favor by rigging a device that Tucker had dubbed the "silly string grenade," to Vlad's podium during a live press conference. The footage and pictures of Vlad covered in colorful goop had been circulating online for weeks after.

Vlad responds with a single link on Twitter.

It's a fucking fail compilation of Phantom set to a remix of the Ghostbusters theme. That one sticks around in the public's memory a lot longer than the silly string debacle.

Danny dyes Vlad's cat Dayglo Orange.  
Maddie is surprisingly chill about the whole thing, not even trying to bite or scratch at him during the process, Vlad…....not so much.

And he really has no idea what brand of payback Vlad had had in mind for him this time, since it had seemingly never come to fruition. Nonetheless, it was an instance that still played out very interestingly.  
~  
It's been a while since the two of them have really had a proper fight. Vlad's been spending more time working with Danny's parents than antagonizing him, something he's still getting used to despite the increasing regularity. And as much as he'd hate to admit it- it's nice to return to what's familiar.

Also ...Vlad's reaction to Phantom's _upgrades_ are well worth the wait.

Danny had initially freaked out about the fangs and changes to his eyes, and later, retractable claws, but a quick trip to see Frostbite had cleared up any concerns. All that shit was normal for ghosts to have. The Frost giant had made a comment about how the claws and teeth were more vestigial structures leftover from when ghosts used to need to physically consume Ectoplasm, (rather than their core taking it in from their surroundings) and that his glowy eyes were usually only seen on ghosts with insanely high energy levels or anger issues but-

It still wasn't anything to be concerned about.

Danny catches Plasmius on a downtown rooftop before he's even gotten a chance to set up his latest prank. Vlad whips around and whatever witty retort he had dies in his throat as he gets his first look at Phantom since their scuffle on Axion labs.

"Well…" Vlad blinks owlishly, a slight green flush creeping across his face, "That's new."

Danny can't help the strange manic joy that overtakes him, "Yep," his legs give way to a ghostly tail, curling and twisting behind him in anticipation, "I got a bit of an update."

He pounces on Vlad.

They tumble to the icy ground, and Danny's a tiny bit disappointed because Vlad seems super off his game today, he can't even manage to kick him off, for fucks sake! He was gonna make some sort of snide comment about exactly that, but then he gets his hands around Vlad's throat, (like he's done to Danny so many times) and completely forgets whatever he was going to say.

Every ghost Dannys ever encountered feels a certain way, the energy coming off of them is always slightly different. Ember is buzzing and quick and somehow impossibly loud despite no audible sound, Skulker is cold, stiff and and meticulous. Vlad has always been sort of warm and fuzzy in a way that makes Danny think of sharp sounding radio static. Right now, there's something pulsing hot and heavy right beneath the static, and Danny realizes that this must've been how Vlad had realized he'd gone into Estrus that first time-

He drops Vlad immediately, face flushing as the other Halfa crumples like a ragdoll, "Why the hell are you trying to fight me like this!?"

Vlad fumbles with his words, trying to explain himself and Danny cuts him off harshly, letting just a bit too much growl and echo leak into his voice, "Just go home, Plasmius."

Danny doesn't miss the way the color on his flushed face deepens as Vlad flees the scene.  
~

Danny manages to push the incident out of his mind until he goes into Estrus again ...and his unintentional fantasizing takes on a drastically different tone.

_He's defiant and mouthy at first, even as he takes hits he could've easily dodged, feigning confidence until Danny pins him down and that self assured demeanor Completely Disintegrates. He suddenly so pliant, touch-starved and desperate and vocal, relishing in the temporary loss of control-_

Danny climaxes and falls back against his pillows, breathless and more than a little bit ashamed. This really needs to stop because...god it might not hurting anyone, but he's going to drive himself insane. He keeps finding himself staring at Vlad during dinner and shying away before he can notice. It's only a matter of time before the other Halfa catches on and questions him.  
So yeah. This really needs to stop.  
~  
Despite his current concerns, the next time Vlad comes over Danny's not avoiding him on purpose. He's just in way too much fucking pain to go downstairs. Still, he winds up seeing Vlad anyway, and the other Halfa seems just as surprised to see him as he phases through the door, "Oh. Sorry, I thought you were out somewhere?"

"Are you ill?" He sounds genuinely concerned.

"No." Danny heaves a sigh, rolling over in bed to face him, "Aunt Flo's just a bitch."  
Then he sits bolt upright as a thought strikes him, "Wait, why are you sneaking in my room if you thought I wasn't home?"

Vlad responds by holding up a plastic bag, the kind you might get from a grocery store, "I was going to set up a prank, but that seems somewhat uncalled for now."

Danny leans back against the pillows, curiosity piqued, "...And exactly what were you planning?"

"A slight variation on that little explosive you made," Vlad pulls a can out of the bag and tosses it to him. Danny catches it easily, and starts cackling despite the cramps because fucking spray cheese Is so much worse than Silly String.

"God...you know, you're a real son of bitch sometimes."

"Mmhm, most of the time, actually." Vlad grins wryly as he perches on the edge of the bed.

Danny gives him the can, "Well, you've definitely been off your game lately."

"Oh?" Vlad looks rather amused, "I suppose I'll just have to try harder, then."

"Good luck topping the cheese bomb you can't even use now."

"And who's to say that?"

Danny snorts, "Well, I'd see it coming now, wouldn't I?"

"Fair point."

They lapse into a brief, awkward silence before Vlad stands,"I ought to just...leave you be. Feel better, Daniel."

A little burst of panic ignites in Danny's chest as Vlad gets up to leave, "Wait!" Vlad turns around, looking just as surprised as he feels with himself. Danny clears his throat a bit awkwardly, "Uh..sorry, can I just ask you a question, real quick? I mean, you're already here-"

Vlad leans up against the door frame, clearly still a bit taken aback, but willing, "Of course."

"Okay, this might be a huge TMI but- anyway, I kind of never had to deal with this issue? I mean not since the Accident? And now it's back and it's really bad because there's fucking Ectoplasm involved now-"

Vlad interrupts, wincing "That sounds….  
extremely unpleasant."

"Yeah, it stings like a bitch."

Vlad shifts uncomfortably against the doorframe, and Danny can't even blame him, hell, he feels stupid for even asking, there's no reason he would know how to deal with this shit anyway-

"Have you taken anything for it?"

Danny forces himself away from his thoughts, "Uh...yea...no, painkillers don't really work for me anymore."

"Figures…." Vlad lets out a sigh, pursing his lips, "I'm assuming this started up after you began cycling?"

"Yep."

"I don't think there's much you can do, then…. short of a hysterectomy, anyway."

Danny slumps against the pillows, dejected, "Well that's definitely not happening anytime soon."

"I suppose you could maybe just…" Vlad pauses and eyes him in a manner that Danny could only describe as wary, "No, nevermind-"

"Nevermind what?" Danny scoots to the edge of the bed, looking just a tiny bit too hopeful.

Vlad relents, "..You could try to throw off your Cycle? But that would likely cause more harm than good-"

"But I'd stop bleeding?"

"You'd also weaken yourself significantly."

"So? I mean if that's the only issue-"

"Daniel," Vlad looks somewhat exasperated, "There are valid reasons we function the way we do- your ghost half needs Ectoplasmic energy in the same way your body requires food or water or sleep-"

"But it's not like it wouldn't kill me to take in less?! Right? Like before?" Danny can't help the way his voice pitches in desperation.

Vlad sighs, "No, probably not. And as much as I wouldn't advise this- you've obviously already made up your mind." he turns to leave, "Just be aware of the consequences. "

~  
Danny really wishes that Vlad had been more specific about exactly what those consequences were.

Honestly, it's his own damn fault for throwing caution to the wind just to cancel his monthly subscription to hell- and as much as he regrets it now it's not like it hadn't worked for a bit either.

It hadn't been an easy thing to do; figuring out how to lower his energy levels and keep them low, not so low that he'd feel drained but just enough.

But one minor slip up had pushed him just a tic too much over that threshold, and after months without a cycle he was paying the price. Estrus had come back in full force, nearly as awful as the first time it'd hit.

In retrospect ...it probably hadn't been a good idea to go exploring the Ghost Zone, considering that the place literally spewed Ectoplasmic energy, but if his track record shows anything, it's that Danny hardly ever thinks shit through.

"Danny? Where- are you? Can you hear-?

He can hear Tucker's voice faintly beneath the static from the Fenton phone, the distance between them interfering with the signal. Danny steadies himself as much as he can before replying, feeling guilty for flying off so abruptly, "I'm fine! Just head back, we can do this another day, I gotta take care of something."

"Take care of what?" Sam sounds more accusing than concerned, and Danny panics.

"I uh, sorry I can't hear you, Sam!

"Yeah dude, you can't just run off and not explain-"

Danny cuts Tucker off by mimicking the static, "Sorry- you guys are- breaking up- can't hear- bye!"

He clicks off his Fenton phone and ducks down behind an island until he hears the Specter speeder turn around. There's no way he can head back until he's dealt with his problem, so Danny starts flying deeper into the Zone in a desperate attempt to find somewhere a little more private.

He doesn't mean to fly towards Vlad's portal- it kinda just ...happens.

His basement laboratory is vacant, and Danny's not sure if he's relieved or disappointed. Floating upwards and phasing onto the ground floor yields nearly the very same results- although while lacking the presence of the other Halfa, the parlor Danny winds up in isn't quite empty. Vlad's cat is perched on the arm of a sofa, and she hops off to greet him, twining herself around his legs. He reaches down to pet her and can't help but laugh- there's still faint streaks of orange in her white fur.

Danny kneels down with a sigh and scratches her chin, "Don't suppose you know where the Froot Loop ran off to either, huh, Mad-cat?"

Maddie only lets out a low, rumbly purr in response, before head butting his hand one last time and turning to trot out of the parlor.

And; as improbable that it is for her to somehow comprehend that he's looking for her owner, to think that she might somehow lead him to Vlad, Danny follows her anyway.

They don't go far- a left turn down the hall, up a few flights of stairs, and then Maddie slips into one of the mansion's many guest rooms and settles down on the bed.

Danny lets out an annoyed huff and turns to leave.

_Honestly, what else were you expecting? She's a friggin' cat she's just as clueless as you are if not more-_

He's pulled back to reality when he just about trips over a shoe discarded in the middle of the hallway. Danny picks it up by the laces, letting it dangle at arm's length as though it might somehow bite off his hand. It's obviously one of Vlad's, but that doesn't at all explain what it's doing in the hall, as a matter of fact- that alone means it ought to have never been discarded so carelessly in the first place. Vlad's a mess in a lot of ways but he's far from careless. He's meticulous and organized in a way that only the severely paranoid are and-

_Goddammit why is this bothering you so much? It's a fucking shoe!_

Danny chucks the offending object at the wall. Aggravated with himself for over-analyzing something so Stupid. Okay yeah, is it really out of character for Vlad to just leave shit out of its proper place? Yeah, Definitely. But Vlad's also been very out of character in general these past few months.

Danny should really just leave. He really, really should.  
He doesn't.

He keeps wandering down the hallway instead. No more than a few yards from where the first shoe had landed, he finds the second one- underneath a crumpled suit jacket.

Danny almost kneels to examine that too, but he hears something that makes him stop short- it's faint, and a little muffled, but it sounded a bit like a strained swear? Or...a Not-Swear, really, because as quiet and nearly incoherent as it is, it was absolutely, unmistakably Vlad. Danny freezes, standing as still as he can, listening for any other sign of the older Halfa.

It's quite- so imperceptible he would've missed it he hadn't been actively listening for it.  
It's not a stupid substitute for profanity, this time, rather, a sound that could only be adequately described as a harsh, desperate gasp.

Danny doesn't even think- just moves instinctively towards the source of the noise. The door at the end of the hall is already slightly ajar, and he pushes it open the rest of the way without hesitation.

And then he has to dig his claws into the door frame to keep from going any further.

It's a bedroom, whether or not it's actually Vlad's or just another guest room is debatable, but unimportant. What's important is that the man in question is very clearly currently in the middle of dealing with his own ...issue.

The clothing discarded in the hallway makes a lot more sense now.  
There’s clothes on the floor in here, too. Black dress pants, a white button up- the only thing that’s still actually on Vlad is his boxers.

_Green and gold, of-fucking-course they’re **green and gold-**_

He’s laying on his side on the bed, his back to the door, and Danny’s claws dig even deeper into the door frame because Vlad has no fucking clue that he’s right there watching everything.

Even in the dim light of the room Danny can see Vlad’s back is littered with old scars, and the way he keeps tensing up- goddammit, those suits are really good at hiding muscle.

Vlad lets out a low, frustrated whine, then he rolls over onto his back and Danny suddenly has a much better view of what he’s doing-

But that was obvious from the start.  
He’s far more interested in watching Vlad’s face now that he can see it.

Framed by mussed, loose silver hair, flushed, and gasping, lips parted ever so slightly, the faint glowing red visible in his half lidded eyes-

Vlad stops abruptly, pulling his hand out of his boxers as he sits up. Danny experiences a split second of panic before he slides off the edge of the bed, dropping down to dig for something stored underneath.

And then as Vlad finds whatever he was searching for and moves to stand he finally becomes aware of Danny’s presence in the doorway, red eyes boring into green.

Danny hardly has time to react when Vlad panics and whips the nearest pitch-able object at his head. And god, he didn’t think he didn’t think it was even possible for someone to look any more mortified than Vlad does in the moment, but he’s proven wrong when he reflexively catches the projectile and the older Halfa looks about ready to just phase through the floor-

Danny beats him to it.

He’s never flown so fucking fast in his life.

~

Vlad would’ve been lying if he said he hadn’t contemplated weaseling his way out of dinner with the Fentons, but the important thing is that he hadn’t. It seemed as though he’d been fretting over nothing though, seeing as Daniel had yet to make an appearance downstairs, rather, he’d been holed up in his room with his friends, likely preoccupied with some asinine game or another.  
Vlad could’ve very easily gone the entire evening without interacting with Daniel at all.  
(But when had he ever really made things easy for himself?)

He takes a moment to steel himself before knocking on the door, forcing his expression to remain neutral. (or bored, if anything.)

There’s a pause in the raucous laughter as Danny answers the door, Vlad can see over his shoulder that Sam has Tucker in a headlock, for whatever reason, the pair of teens very clearly the source of the commotion. Danny eyes him warily, “What the hell do you want?”

“Good evening to you too, Little Badger. Mind If I come in?”

Danny pulls a face, “Uh, yeah, actually, I do.” He tries to close the door but Vlad catches it with his foot and forces his way into the room, “Well, that's a shame, seeing as you have something that belongs to me.”'

“What?”

Vlad opens up the drawer in his nightstand, it seems like as decent a place to look as anywhere else, “If you’d just tell me where you’ve stowed it away I’ll grab it and go, there’s no need to make an ordeal out of this-”

Danny sputters, indignant, “What? I don’t- I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

Vlad closes the drawer with far more force than necessary, “Yes. you most certainly do, and if you’re not going to own up to it I’ll just have to find it myself.”

He looks confused, for another moment, and then Vlad wanders over to DOOM poster on the wall and he blanches in apparent recognition. Vlad turns his hand intangible, “Let me guess, are we still hiding all our contraband in the drywall?”

“Vlad don’t-”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” and with that the older Halfa phases his hand through the poster and starts searching.

“Danny? What’s going on?” Sam asks, having long since released Tucker to watch the apparent altercation between the two Half-Ghosts.

“Well- I mean- It’s not a big deal just um…”

“Found it.” Vlad's tone has a horrifying sense of finality to it.

“Could you guys maybe leave the room for a second?!”

Vlad fishes an opaque plastic bag out of his pocket, “You’re friends can stay exactly where they are, Daniel. I can assure you that I’m not at all ashamed of my preferences.”

The expression on his face as Vlad opens up the bag is fucking priceless, “Please Don’t-”

Vlad pauses momentarily, staring him down, “Let this be a lesson, then. Next time you decide to come uninvited into my home, maybe you’ll think twice.”

With that said, he rips the offending object out of the wall, maintaining eye contact with Danny, holding it aloft just long enough that everyone present can discern Exactly what it is-

It’s very obviously a Dildo.  
Thick silicone, vaguely phallic, and the very same thing that Vlad had chucked at Danny in a blind panic the week before.

He drops it into the bag, turns on his heel, and saunters out of the room.

Vlad actually has to hold back a laugh as Tucker finally breaks out of his stunned silence, “DUDE, WHAT THE FUCK?!”

~  
There is literally no possible way for Danny to reasonably explain what just happened.

This is the first thing he thinks as he struggles to come up with a way to answer Tucker’s question, and promptly decides that he’s not even going to bother trying, he simply clears his throat instead and says, “Just excuse me for a minute while I go punch his fucking face in.”

He whirls around and scrambles out of the room.

Vlad’s already heading out the front door by the time he makes it downstairs. Danny races after him with Sam and Tucker not far behind. He catches him as he’s getting into the car, phasing through the passenger side door and pining Vlad up against the opposite window, “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

He grins, “Far too many things to list, honestly,”

“This isn’t funny, Vlad!”

“Oh, but it is, and really Daniel, as much as I understand your ire, you’re not exactly making this any easier on yourself,” Vlad shifts slightly underneath him, drawing Danny’s attention to their current, horribly compromising position. He glances over his shoulder and confirms that yes, Sam and Tucker are still watching this entire shit show with unmasked horror, and then he turns back to Vlad and does the only thing he could think of to possibly rectify the situation; punching him square in the face.

Vlad flails for just a moment before getting a good grip on Danny’s shoulder, turning him intangible and throwing him from the vehicle. He tears out of the driveway so fast that the tires squeal.

Danny turns around to face Sam and Tucker, “Uhhh…..I can explain?”

Sam grabs him by the ear and starts dragging him inside, “I sure fucking hope so.”

~

She doesn’t let go of him until they’re back in Danny's room, crossing her arms and staring him down as he falls roughly into his desk chair.

Yeah, there’s no way he’s getting out of this.

Danny puts his head in his hands to avoid looking at either of his friends “Okay. So….you guys remember how back in September I….I started having those...uh-”

“You’re period came back.” Tucker deadpans, leaning back against the door, “Yeah we remember, you kind of had a major freak out- but what the hell does that have to do with Vlad?”

The rest comes out in a rush- and it’s probably better that way anyway, like ripping off a band aid, “Well Vlad’s kinda the reason that happened, I mean not directly but apparently ghosts- or just Half-Ghosts really, it’s uh, this is definitely a Halfa specific thing-”

Sam cuts him off, “Danny just cut to the chase!”

“It’s Estrus.” She only looks more confused at that so Danny yanks open his desk draw, “It’s just- it’s this weird fucked up biological thing- I have notes in here somewhere, let me just-”

“Oh my god.” Tucker speaks up from by the door, “You have a fucking heat cycle.”

Danny feels his face turn bright red as Sam whips around, “Wait, he what?”

“That’s what “Estrus” means, Sam.”

She face-palms “Oh dear god, of course you would know that, you fucking furry,” she turns back to Danny, “Why didn't you tell us? And why they hell does Vlad know? And that still doesn't even explain the fucking sex toy that Vlad-”

“I went to ask him for help and I walked in on him dealing with his own shit and he panicked and threw it at me!”

Tucker bursts out in hysterical laughter.

Sam’s face is bright red as she whirls back around, “Tucker this isn’t funny!” she turns back to Danny, “This is just a really bad joke right? A prank?”

Danny hands her the folder with Vlad’s research notes, wincing apologetically, “I really wish it was.”

~

  
Sam paces as she reads the notes thoroughly, with Tucker scanning the text over her shoulder, the two of them asking the occasional question. Sam sits down on the edge of Danny’s bed when she’s done, handing the papers off to Tucker, “Danny, I just don’t understand- Okay, no, I’m not gonna lie, I still don’t understand a lot of this- but why didn’t you tell us? ”

“Because it was easier not to? I mean Vlad...Ugh, I know we don’t trust him, but he knows how to deal with this shit better than you guys would and it’s honestly ...pretty embarrassing…”

She frowns, “Yeah, I get that, but it shouldn’t be! I mean, we should be able to talk about this kind of thing, we’re all adults here-”

Tucker cuts back into the conversation, “You’re the only one of us that’s actually eighteen, Sam.”

Sam huffs at the correction, she always forgets that her friends are a year younger, “Fine- all of us are practically adults. But the points still stands! We’ve been friends forever, we don't need to dance around this shit, especially if it’s really starting affecting one of us.” she turns to Danny, “I mean, it’s not awkward unless we make it awkward, right?”

“....I guess?”

“Okay wait!” tucker slams the papers down onto Danny’s nightstand, startling his friends, “Are we officially opening this topic up for discussion because-”

“Tucker,” Danny leans back against his desk, grinning despite himself, “Is there something you want to tell us?”

~  
“Oh my god. I had no idea you were bisexual- when the hell did this happen again?”

“You guys remember that coding camp I went to over the summer?”

“One time, At coding camp I-”

“Danny, stop making outdated movie references and let him tell his hoe story!”

~

All things considered, the situation Vlad had ignited could have gone far worse than it did. 

Danny definitely knew a hell of a lot more about his friends than he thought he’d ever need to- but Sam was right, it wasn’t weird unless they made it weird. The resulting conversation had actually been more insightful, than anything else. 

…..On the other hand, the three of them had defentity stayed up way too late, because Danny sleeps through all of his alarms. That in itself isn’t really an unusual occurrence, but one of his parents usually manage to wake him up in time not to completely miss his first class- and neither of them had. 

Danny stumbles downstairs and checks the basement first, it might be past noon now but he can still make it to 6th period if he really tries, but the lab is strangely empty. As is every other room in the house. A glance out the window reveals that the driveway is too. 

Danny shoots his mom a text, “Slept in, srry, where are u guys???” 

He slumps down on the couch, resigned to the fact that he’s probably not making it to school today ...which wouldn't be an issue if he didn't already have class credits on the line. He'd have already started flying if that was an option- but then his parents would be notified about how he's apparently cut half his classes and he'd have to come up with an explanation.....Maybe he can get a doctor’s note somehow? He sighs, and then decides to turn on the TV to distract himself, since it’s not like he can really do anything about it until his parents get home. 

He flips through channels aimlessly, there’s nothing good on so he settles on a random news program for the background noise, if nothing else. They’re playing a bit about a local dog show right now, which is cute, sure- but not really that informative in the grand scheme of things. He’s about to switch it off when the image of a prancing Pomeranian switches back to the news anchor, “Glad to see the Elemerton dog pageant still going strong!” the woman’s beaming smile falters as she glances down at her notes, “In other news, the Wisconsin estate of billionaire philanthropist, Vlad Masters, was seemingly reduced to rubble early this morning, the result of an apparent ectoplasmic explosion. Local experts stated the obvious ghostly involvement, although the authorities are still investigating the incident-”

Danny tears his eyes away from the screen, and the smoldering wreck of Vlad’s house as his phone buzzes in his lap,

“At the hospital. Vlad was in an accident.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Proof that Tucker Foley is a godamn furry.](https://twitter.com/CharlieHaruno/status/1190223222240759808?s=09)  
  
[The "outdated movie" scene that Danny was referring to.](https://youtu.be/ZifmiFkgZlc)


	4. Hair clips and ghost nip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, first off:  
I am, so, so sorry for leaving y'all with such a nasty cliff hanger for so long!!!  
Secondly- this chapter ended up being about a 1,000 or so words shorter than planned but I really didn't want to make you guys keep waiting, seriously, bless y'all for being so patient!!  
Anyway: 
> 
> R.I.P, Mad-Cat.  
(She'll be back though, don't worry)

Danny doesn’t get anymore details on what happened until his parents get home- hours later.  
The way Maddie had phrased it in her text, “Accident” wasn’t entirely correct. His parents were entirely convinced it was actually a ghost attack. Danny’s not sure which possibility is worse. His parents still don’t know the true extent of Vlad’s research, but Danny’s well aware. If it was an accident- what kind of fucked up experiment could he have possibly been running to cause so much damage? And how could he have been so careless with it? And then on the other hand- there was the idea that a ghost had done it. In a way, that was even more concerning than a botched science project- anything that could cause so much destruction had to have had power levels on par with ghosts like Vortex and Undergrowth.

Obviously the only person he’d get any answers from was Vlad himself.

He can't cut through the ghost zone to get up to Wisconsin- seeing as Vlad's portal is quite obviously no longer functional. He has to fly instead. It's certainly faster than any human means of transport, but by the time he gets to the hospital he's horribly winded and it's long past visiting hours, which means he'll have to sneak in and go through the trouble of finding Vlad's room by himself.

This also takes far longer than he'd like- and Danny's more than a little annoyed by the time he finally locates the other Halfa.  
The room is mostly dark, lights off and shades drawn, the only illumination provided from the muted TV mounted on the wall, and his own ghostly aura.

"Daniel, as much as I enjoy your company, there are far better ways to provide it than lurking in doorways, you know- you seem to be making a habit of that, lately."

Vlad's voice permeates through the dark, and Danny zeros in on the shape of him curled up in the bed- he hadn't been sure if he was awake.

Vlad sits up with a sigh, "Are you going to come in or just continue standing there like a complete spook?"

"What the hell happened?" Danny doesn't waste any time, cutting straight to the chase as he allows himself to enter, "Who attacked you?"

Vlad surprises him with a light laugh, "Attacked? Daniel, wherever did you get such an idea-"

"My parents thought-"

"Yes, well- naturally they thought wrong."

Danny frowns, stepping closer to the bed, "Then what was it?" He can see Vlad's injures far more clearly now- gauze bandages wrapped around his hands and arms, the ones on his shoulders peeking out the collar of his hospital gown. If the bandages are covering burns, his face is somehow remarkably unmarred- aside from the thin cut across his left temple and- oh, nope, that's...definitely apart of much larger injury…bad enough that they'd shaved off a fair amount of his hair on that side to stitch the broad gash shut.

Vlad flops back against the pillows, looking somewhat embarrassed, "I forgot to clean out the ecto-filtration system on my portal."

"Oh." Danny actually has to take a moment to process this, god he'd thought it was something so much worse-

"You-" he lets out a short bark of a laugh, overwhelmed by the sudden flood of relief, "You're an idiot."

"Mmhm." Vlad rolls over, burying his face in the pillows and muffling his response, "I'm well aware."

Danny suddenly feels a little ashamed for laughing, goddamnit his whole house just blew up it's not funny he could've Actually died-

"Well, uh- on the bright side at least you definitely won't have a hard time replacing all your shit? Or maybe not, I mean sometimes it's good to downsize a little?"

"Perhaps. I do know I'm certainly not getting another cat anytime soon."

"....Oh." Vlad's strained delivery of the statement is so jarring that Danny's not sure how else to respond. "...I'm sorry-"

He lifts his head just enough to be heard properly, cutting Danny off harshly, "Daniel the last thing I want right now is feigned sympathy, especially coming from you."

"I- I wasn't-"

"No, of course not." Vlad's sat up again, staring him down in the dark, "You came merely because you were concerned about the possibility of a new spectral threat. You've absolutely no reason to be concerned with my well being-"

"Vlad-"

"**_Just go home and let me rest_**."

~

Danny leaves, but he doesn't go home. He makes a beeline for what's left of Vlad's estate instead.

What remains isn't much, the many floors and weaker walls of the structure have collapsed inwards, destroying everything but the stone foundation. At least it's not smoking anymore…..probably hasn't been for a few hours now.

Danny moves to hover closely over the mess, trying to figure out where to start combing through the rubble. This would be so much easier if Vlad had given Maddie her own room or something- at least then he'd have a vague idea of where to look. Of course there's no reason to give a cat a bedroom- not when she could just as easily have the run of an entire mansion.

Danny starts digging.

It takes hours, the sun's peeking over the horizon by the time he's found what he's looking for- charred, feline remains. He works the scorched metal tags off her collar as gently as he can, and heads home hoping it'll be enough.  
~  
Vlad's discharged from the hospital only days later. It's nothing short of miraculous to those unaware of his ghostly physiology.

(In truth, near third degree burns, and flaming-shrapnel-induced head trauma, both mean very little when you've got an inhuman healing factor.)

And then, of course, because the universe just really seems to have it out for Danny lately,- Vlad's rather sudden release had prompted Jack and Maddie to offer him a place to stay while he got his affairs in order.

Specifically, in Jazz's currently vacant bedroom.

Right across the fuckin' hall from his.

It wouldn't be so bad if Vlad wasn't still so obviously pissed off at him- the way he'd brush straight past him if they got caught in the hall together, or disappear into the basement with his parents after dinner without so much as a glance-

The rational part of Danny knows it shouldn't be bothering him this much, but he can't help it.

He manages to break the silence between them after he catches the older Halfa off guard in the kitchen, at the crack of dawn about a week later,  
"Do you normally straighten your hair?"

"Pardon?" Vlad turns away from the coffee machine, bleary eyed. His hair- what's left of it anyway, is an absolute mess. Left loose and wavy instead of pulled back and pin-straight.

Vlad blatantly ignores the question, "You're up early."

"I have chronic insomnia." Danny deadpans.

"Someone's been studying their vocabulary."

Vlad tries to brush past him, and Danny quickly moves to block his path, "Seriously though, it looks like shit," he takes a step back to put some distance between them, nerves suddenly getting the best of him, "Your hair, I mean."

Vlad glares at him with unmasked annoyance and Danny knows damn well that his appearance was a poor choice for a conversation starter, but it's far too late to back out now. He swallows hard, "I could help you fix it? If you want?"  
~  
After years of being one of Danny's closest friends, Sam had long since learned not to enter the Fenton household with expectations of anything even remotely related to normalcy.

And yet, somehow, despite all the Ectoplasmic explosions and reanimated lunches she's witnessed,she still manages to be genuinely surprised by what goes on in Fenton works.

"Soooo," she drawls out, side-eying Vlad seated in the living room where he's reading a magazine, (and probably eves-dropping on them) "Are we gonna talk about the elephant in the room or?"

Danny pulls a face, "I already told you guys about the living situation-"

"Dude, pretty sure she was talking about the fact that he's wearing Jazz's My Little Pony hair clips." Tucker says, leaning over the back of his chair to snap a picture.

Vlad looks up at the sound of the flash, "They were somehow the only thing Daniel could find." He gets up to join them in the kitchen, glaring at Tucker, "And Mr. Foley, I suggest you delete that picture before I make you-"

Tucker just snorts, not even looking up at him "Hate to break it to you man, but you're pretty far from threatening right now." He turns to Danny laughing, "Seriously, what happened? did he lose a bet or something?"

Vlad rolls his eyes, "No, I made the mistake of taking Daniel up on his offer to "Fix It."

Danny merely shrugs, "Hey, I tried alright, it's not like there's anything stopping you from taking them out. And I did offer to cut it-"

"And I said I'd rather not let you anywhere near my face with scissors." He leans up against the door frame, "Granted- I'm surprised you even offered, I hadn't realized it was bothering you so much."

The way he says that has Danny sputtering, "What? Why the hell would it be bothering me? I figured you were bothered or something I- I was just trying to be nice!"

Vlad lets out a light laugh at his reaction, "Daniel, as unpleasant as I may or may not have found it, a hair-cut simply wasn't my top priority," he shakes his head as he turns to leave, "I was far more focused on correcting the "living situation", as you put it- speaking of- I'll be out of your hair soon enough."

"Wait, you mean you're leaving?"

"I bought a house in Polter-Heights."

Sam lets out a strangled sound of abject horror at the realization that she'll have him for a neighbor.

~  
Ruminating on that news later in the evening, Danny's somewhat surprised to find that he's almost more ...disappointed than relieved.

On one hand, having Vlad around lately hasn't been fun- but that's only because the man had been avoiding him like the plague. Although that had been entirely his fault, really, he would've done the same thing if Vlad had been the one to Walk In on him. But other than that, Vlad had done nothing to raise any of the sort of Hell Danny's come to expect from him-

Of course, the sudden commotion erupting down stairs makes him realize it was only a matter of time.

It's the sound of something shattering, and a lot of incoherent yelling that sends Danny racing into the kitchen.

Turns out, most of the yelling is coming from Vlad.

"Иди к черту! Это твоя вина, это всегда твоя вина! Отпусти меня, тупой ублюдок! Я ни хрена не понимаю, зачем я стараюсь!"

Jack's got him pinned against a counter, and there's glass all over the floor, the remains of beakers and test tubes that had been drying near the sink, knocked down during the struggle.

"What the heck happened?!"

His dads too busy to answer him, and it takes Maddie a moment to pull herself out of her shocked stupor, shaking her head as she turns to him, "Vlad ... had reaction to something we were working with."

Vlad continues to grapple with Jack, laughing hysterically "Это будет не в первый раз!"

"Vlad- Vladdy hey, hey, c'mon- I don't speak Russian, I have no idea what you're saying can you just calm down- OW!" Jack stumbles back clutching his shoulder, "Did you just bite me!?"

Vlad only cackles in response, now crouching on top of the counter.

"Mads," Jack implores, putting distance between himself and Vlad, "Didn't you ask him to teach you?"

Maddie shrugs somewhat sheepishly, "...Only diminutives and curse words, really."  
She clears her throat, "but I guess it's worth a shot? Ummm, "Володя! …..Твоя мать шлюха?"

Vlad stops laughing abruptly. The look he gives Maddie as he slides off the counter top- Danny's not sure he has words to describe it beyond viscerally upsetting.

Vlad crosses the kitchen slowly, maintaining eye contact. Maddie tries to step back as he gets far too close, but he stops her, a hand on her shoulder and his face inches from hers. Danny's about a second away from punching him before he hears his response, "No, Madaline. 'Your mother's a whore' and your pronunciation is still shit."

And then he grins, wolfish and manic, before patting her gently on the cheek and just about skipping out of the room.

Danny glances back and forth between his parents, the two ghost hunters looking just as confused as he feels,"So- uh, Can I asked exactly what it was that caused that?"

~  
Ghost Nip.

Danny's parents had been running experiments with fucking Ghost Nip.

Specifically- the pollen. Pollen that was just as much a hallucinogenic as the rest of the plant, that his dad had somehow gotten all over Vlad.

Which meant Vlad was acting like that Because he was absolutely, undeniably, Stoned out of mind.

Danny doesn't have a whole lot of experience with Nip, having only tried it a grand total of once- but he's pretty sure Vlad wouldn't have gone near it if he'd known. Especially with just how aggressive the stuff apparently made him. Danny starts looking for him as soon as he realizes the gravity of the situation, fuck they really shouldn't have left him alone-

He's not anywhere on the ground floor, the kitchen, living room and bathroom are all vacant. He even checks his parent's bedroom- even though there's no reason for him to be in there, he's not about to rule anywhere out.

The upstairs bathroom is empty, and so is Jazz's room and shit what if he left the house like that-

Wait.

He's pretty sure he didn't leave his door all the way open like that-

_Godamnit Vlad_.

Danny steps in with an agitated huff,"Hi, there, can I ask what the fuck you think you're doing in my room?"

Vlad's got the lights off and he's laying flat on his back across the floor, staring fixatedly up at the glowing stars on the ceiling. He tilts his head back to blink languidly at Danny instead, as though trying to process his presence.

An uneasy feeling settles in Danny's stomach, he's never seen Vlad look so vacant before, "uh….earth to Frootloop??" He takes a tentative step forward, "Anyone home right now- Oh Shit!

Vlad takes that as incentive latch onto his leg, digging his claws into his ankle, "Did you know….you had…." He gestures lazily up at the ceiling with his free hand, "....shooting stars, in here?"

Danny stares down at him dumbly, "Uhh... Yeah? I kind of put them up there?" Danny shakes his ankle, trying to loosen his grip to no avail,"Is that really why you're in my room right now?"

Vlad just sort of shrugs, "...Dunno....They're pretty. You're pretty."

Danny's feels his face flush, his mind screaming at him,

_What the fuck what the fuck oh my god stop don't think into this he's fucking stoned he doesn't know what he's saying (or is he saying it beacuse he's stoned) No noPE ABORT ABORT, NOT GOING THERE shoot him in the face, GTFO FENTON-_

"Let go of my ankle, Right the hell now."

"Kay." Vlad doesn't loosen his grip at all.

Danny swallows hard, "Vlad-"

"There's a difference between hearing and listening, little badger."

"Sure, but if you don't start listening soon I'm gonna stomp on your friggin' wrist."

Vlad finally relinquishes his hold, sitting up with a sigh, "Always a buzz kill, Aren't you?"

Danny carefully puts some distance between himself and Vlad, watching the man warily as he settles into his desk chair "Yeah, sorry, it's kinda in the job description- arch enemy and all that."

"Ah. How unfortunate," Vlad chuckles as he tries to stand. He doesn't make it far, only managing to stumble into Danny's bed frame. He gives up after a moment and just perches on the edge of the mattress.

Danny snorts,"The rooms spinning right now, isn't it?"

"Sorta…" his response is a bit slurred, "annnnnd...how would you know?"

"Someone spiked the punch at a Christmas truce party a few years back and no one told me."

Vlad lets himself flop back on the bed, looking a bit pained, "...Fun."

Danny can't help but laugh, "Yeahhhh, not really." He lets himself relax a bit as he realizes that Vlad's not in a great state to pull anything, not while he's so obviously in the process of crashing out of the accidental high. "You're not gonna throw up are you?"

"No!" Vlad scoffs, looking briefly offended before suddenly squeezing his eyes shut, "Actually- could you get the trash bin?"

Danny swears inwardly, snatching up the metal can from beside his desk and rushing over. the last thing he wants if for Vlad to be sick all over his bed.

The can hits the floor with a solid "Clang!" as Vlad sticks his leg out and trips him.

It happens so fucking fast- one second Vlad's flat on his back ready to hurl and then as Danny stumbles he shoots up and grabs him by the shoulder, catching him and flipping him around to face him in the same rough motion.

_Fuck, he shouldn't have let his gaurd down-_

Danny reacts as quickly as he can manage. He snarls up at Vlad from where he's pinned against the headboard. He feels his eyes burning green as he pushes back against him and Vlad surprises him all over again, abruptly loosening his grip on Danny's shoulders and allowing himself to be shoved off.

Vlad laughs as his back makes contact with the wall, "Uh oh, _Scary eyes_."

It's not the characteristic taunt that's throwing Danny for a loop though. He knows Vlad could hurt him, would've already Hurt Him, if that's what he'd wanted- but he's not restraining Danny so much as just...holding him.

He wreches himself away, forcing his eyes to extinguish, "Don't fucking patronize me."

Vlad chuckles and tsks, "But m' not, you're just so fun when your all riled up…. Don't see why you're so afraid to keep your claws out……..gorgeous when you've gone unhinged-"

Danny can't stop his face from burning up all over again, "I don't know what the fuck you think your playing at, but you need to stop right the hell now!"

"You really think I haven't noticed the way you look at me, Little Badger?" Vlad leans forward as much as he can manage, dropping the play full tone. He sounds deathly serious now, "Do you really think me so ignorant, dear boy?"

Danny swallows hard, "No."

He should leave. He could leave. Just as simple as climbing out of Vlad's lap and bolting from the room-

But Dear God that is so much easier said than done.

Vlad tucks his face into the crook of his neck, voice dropping to a whisper, "Than what, Daniel?"

And what the fuck is he supposed to say to that? Not the truth- not that he was just hoping he wouldn't notice. Because that's not what Vlad's really asking- he wants to know why, more than that Danny knows the other Halfa wants to hear him say it aloud for some godforsaken reason.

So Danny doesn't say anything at all.

The seconds tick by painfully, Danny with his jaw clenched tight and Vlad breathing into his neck.

And then Vlad finally relents, letting loose a long sigh, "Fine than, maintain your silence."

For a split second Danny thinks that might be his cue to leave, but Vlad wraps his arms tightly around him and shifts them both to lie down, face still buried in his shirt.

~  
Vlad wakes up hours later aching and disoriented. His head hurts- why? And where is he and why is- The fog clears all at once and he can't scramble out of Danny's bed fast enough.

Danny glances up at him blearily as he wakes, then scowls and rolls over to face the wall. Vlad really feels like he should apologize- for what, exactly, he can't remember, but Danny doesn't give him the chance, "Dad got you high on ghost nip. You blacked out."

Vlad fumbles for words, "....I don't remember-"

"Yeah. That's probably for the best," Danny pulls his blanket over himself, "goodnight."

"Daniel." Vlad feels as though his heart's jumped up into his throat, "What did I do?"

There's a painfully long pause before Danny sighs and offers up an explanation, "You were yelling in Russian for a while and when I tried to get you to sleep it off you wouldn't lay down if I left you alone."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Can you get the hell out of my room now?"

Vlad does as he's asked, closing the door behind himself with a gentle click. His pulse is still racing as he slumps against the wall. There are just too many ways that situation could've gone sideways.  
Granted...using Daniel as a teddy bear wasn't an ideal outcome- no wonder the boy was pissed at him, just thinking about it felt awkward- but no- things hadn't gotten nearly as inappropriate as he'd feared.

Best to just forget about it.

No need to linger on the implications, the fact that Daniel had allowed him to sleep next to him-

Because you were inebriated and looking to start a fight! Nothing more than that!

Daniel was becoming even more of a thorn in his side than ever before, and he didn't even realize it.

And all because of that one... inciting incident: Daniel coming into his first cycle and having the misfortune to be present for it. 

Vlad finds it increasesingly difficult not to dwell on how quickly the boy had snapped. Succumbing to the desperation so viscously that Vlad had been genuinely terrified, if only for a moment. 

Terrified, and horribly aroused. 

He should have been able to brush it off- Daniel hadn't been in his right mind in that moment, driven solely by panic and hormones. 

And yet- Vlad finds himself unable.   
He shouldnt be dwelling on it, by all means, but he'd caught himself thumbing over the bitemark on his collar bone one too many times. 

He had tried to take solace in the fact that Daniel had been more than willing to put the incident behind them-

Or so it had seemed, until he'd had the nerve to seek him out for help, him. Even after Vlad had explictly requested he didn't, Despite the fact that he has allies more than willing to assist, Daniel came looking for him.

And then he stood in the doorway and _Watched_. 

Was he supposed to ignore that as well?   
Certainly that would be the intelligent thing to do- chalk it up to a mixture of hormones and sheer unadulterated, stupidity....

_If only he were_ _able_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations for the Russian Dialogue:
> 
> Line one: Go to hell! It's your fault, it's always your fault! Let me go you stupid bastard! I don't fucking understand why I'm trying!
> 
> Line two: "It won't be the first time!" 
> 
> Line three: "Volodya! (it's basically a nickname) Your mother is a whore?"


	5. Olive branches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter today, but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting again! Enjoy!

Vlad was really starting to regret being  _ nice _ . 

Of course that deal with Axion had been too good to be true- well no, not really, the company had been going bankrupt for the better part of a decade, he was doing them a favor, really. Purchasing the facility meant the upkeep of one less laboratory for them, and the saved expense would be enough to stay in business for at least another few years. 

Jack and Maddie were the ones causing issues. 

Dangerous, liability inducing  _ issues.  _

Taking the occasional commision from the Guys In White- that was one thing,  _ working for them on the other hand….. _

It's not as though the government had been completely unaware of their work, but expanding Fenton Works had put them on the map. They'd been marked as a possible  _ asset,  _ and as great as that might sound to them, he couldn't let any sort of deal go through between the two parties. 

Sure right now it's just, "Oh, well, we'd just like to look into building up public defenses, you know, expanding our arsenal-" but how long would it take before they were requesting portal schematics? 

It was a fudging disaster waiting to happen. 

The sound of the door bell halts his racing thoughts and Vlad has to take a moment to pull himself together, only just then realizing he'd been pacing across the foyer like a lunatic. 

Daniel's waiting for him on the porch, or rather, the railing of the porch, where he's decided to perch with a covered plate in his lap. 

Vlad can't help but crack a smile, "Oh, well then, to what do I owe the pleasure, Little Badger?" 

Danny slides off the railing with a roll of his eyes, "Just here to deliver a peace offering." He shrugs, "My mom made fudge." 

Vlad finds himself dragging a hand across his face, mumbling wearily under his breath "Like a dove with an olive branch…." 

"Er….what?" 

"Nevermind. Just…" he sighs as he opens the door fully, "Just come in. You can stick that in the fridge." 

Danny does as he's asked, following Vlad into the kitchen. 

"Sooooo, I know it's none of my business-" his voice is muffled until he closes the refrigerator, "but what kinda shit hit the fan this time?" 

Vlad slumps into a chair at the table, "Eloquent as always, Daniel." 

Danny takes a seat as well, propping his head up in his hands, "Seriously Frootloop, I heard the tail end of that argument, and it sure didn't sound pretty." 

Vlad briefly contemplates explaining the situation, it could affect him after all….and yet, Daniel really isn't wrong, (for once) this entire affair  _ is _ absolutely none of his business- 

He doesn't get a chance to voice this opinion though, as that's when the self proclaimed "greatest hunter in the ghost zone," phases into his kitchen. 

Danny slumps back in his chair with a frustrated groan, "Dude, you really have some  _ seriously _ shitty timing." 

Skulker crosses his arms in clear annoyance, "If you're no longer interested in your quarry I'll gladly take it for myself, whelp." 

Danny sits bolt upright, "Wait! You found her!?" 

"Obviously," Skulker scoffs, "Nothing eludes the greatest-" 

"Yup, yeah, "greatest hunter in the zone," we get it. Thermos. Now.  _ Please _ ." 

Danny scrambles to catch it as Skulker tosses it a bit carelessly towards the table. He hesitates, thumb hovering over the release switch, then sets it down, and slides it across the table to Vlad. 

"Open it." 

Vlad raises an eyebrow with unmasked suspicion, "Why should I? Daniel, what are you planning?" 

Skulker cuts in, growing impatient, "It's your damned c-" 

Danny just about tackles him in an effort to slap his hand over the hunter's metal mouth, "Don't ruin it!" 

"Just open it. I swear it's not a prank. Like. On what's left of my life, cross my fucking core  _ just-open-the-friggin'-thermos-pretty- please-with-a-cherry-on-top- _ " 

"Fine." And Vlad flicks release switch, if only to stop his incessant whining. 

Despite Daniel's reassurances, he really was expecting some awful prank.

Suffice to say, Vlad was not at all prepared to get knocked off his chair by approximately 8 pounds of ghostified house cat. 

"Are you  _ crying _ ?" Daniel has the biggest, most shit eating grin on his face as Vlad struggles to recover on the floor, cradling Madeline like the treasure she is. 

"No! I've just got...fur in my eye." 

"Dead cats don't shed, Froot-loop." 

"Shut up." If Danny notices the way Vlad's voice cracks, he lets it go, more than content to simply smile and watch the cat purring up a storm in his lap. 

It takes Vlad another few moments to properly pull himself together before he reclaims his seat at the table, holding Maddie tight against his chest. He's about to ask  _ how,  _ when Skulker clears his throat, "My payment, Whelp. I don't have all day."

"Oh, right yeah, here," Danny snatches the thermos off the table and chucks it at the hunter, "Now get the hell out of here already, you're ruining the moment!" 

Skulker lets out an agitated huff, but stuffs the thermos into an empty holster and does as he's told. 

Vlad watches him leave the way he'd come, a brow arched in concern, "You're letting him keep that thermos?" 

Danny shrugs, nonchalant, "Yeah. It's fine, it's one of the older ones, anyway. It'll crap out in another couple days without a few hours on a charger." He snickers, "And a charger  _ wasn't _ part of the deal." 

Vlad nods in understanding, scratching Maddie under her chin, "So you hired Skulker to track her down- might ask how?" 

Danny looks briefly uncomfortable, shifting in his seat, "I uh, dug her collar up, gave him her tags…" 

"Even though you knew there was no guarantee that she'd even  _ come back-"  _

"It was still worth a shot."

It's Vlad's turn to feel uncomfortable now. Daniel had had no reason to go through all this trouble and  _ yet- _ he feels his throat tightening up all over again and has to take a moment to just breathe, burying his face in Maddaline's now stark green fur. 

He finds his voice again after a moment, lifting his head and clearing his throat, "...Thank you." 

Danny refuses to meet his gaze as he feels his face flush, "Yeah, whatever, you don't need to make a big deal out of it." 

Vlad lets out a sort of breathless laugh as Maddie half squirms, half phases out of his arms, clearly excited to explore her new home, "I wouldn't dream of it, Little Badger." 

He ruffles Danny's hair as he stands and crosses the kitchen, opening the cabinet over the stove, "But, while you're here, I have something for you as well," Danny can hear what seems to be medicine bottles rattling around a as Vlad digs through the cabinet, and turns, tossing him one.

"Take this with you before I forget again." 

Danny catches the small bottle easily, turning it in his palm to read the label, "Uhhh...Advil? Thanks, I guess?" 

Vlad snorts and shakes his head, "No, you idiot, that was just the only empty container I had. It's a homemade pain killer- Ghost nip based." 

Danny pops the lid open and finds that the pills inside are a delicate pink, and vaguely floral scented. He blinks in surprise, "Do they actually work?" 

"As far as I was able to test them, yes." 

Danny finds himself laughing, unable to force down the memory of Vlad's prior, ghost-nip induced mania, and forces himself to close the bottle before he can spill it everywhere. 

Vlad huffs, "Well it's not like I could test them on anyone else!" 

"I know, I know it's just-" he pauses to catch his breath, braced against the table, "I still can't believe you never done it before then." 

"I mean- it's not like you don't go to the Christmas truce parties, I've seen you at a few." 

Vlad sits back down at the table, "Of course I go- skipping them would make more enemies than I care to deal with, But it's not as though all of them have involved spiked punch, Little Badger." 

"No, yeah, you're right," he hums thoughtfully as he tries to recall past parties, "Actually I think it was just the one time that happened, I don't remember when exactly...but Frostbite was hosting it that year, so it was in the Far Frozen." 

Vlad's face twists suddenly, his expression becoming somewhat unreadable, "That's…. probably why I missed the drunken shenanigans. I think it's time you left, Daniel." 

"Uhh...sure, yeah." Danny stands, feeling unsettled by the abrupt change in Vlad's demeanor. As he turns to leave, Maddie brushes past his ankles with a pleased, " _ Mrrp!"  _ and he stops, remembering why he'd come to see the other Halfa in the first place. 

"Wait, Vlad...Just- one more thing?"

"Yes?" Vlad doesn't hide his annoyance, and Danny stutters a bit,

"Just... don't do anything stupid, okay? I'm pretty sure all this stuff with the Guys In White will blow over soon." 

(And of course- Vlad doesn't listen, and it doesn't) 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus art for this chapter! 
> 
> [ Vlad, Danny and a ghost kitty](https://photos.app.goo.gl/w84c8AkK9MaUSiNj6)
> 
> Mad cat was edited by me, the original art was by my friend bun, and you can find it here, 
> 
> [unded-bun.tumblr.com](https://unded-bun.tumblr.com/post/188562235186/okay-art-dump-time-wow-i-cant-believe-i)


End file.
